


An Agent's Work is Never Done

by RippleStarFairy



Category: Club Penguin
Genre: Ace really needs to rest, Action, Bonding, Concussions, Crushes, Dubious Minecart Science, Epilogue, F/F, Flashbacks, Hugs, Injury, Kidnapping, Near Death Experiences, Pining, Retelling, Tags Contain Spoilers, Tags May Change, There's an epilogue now, Unrequited Love, Violation of the Laws of Robotics, Vomiting, but it's all fine in the end, but just napping for a few hours after throwing up is good enough right, except gayer, i feel bad that this is the first time the testbots are tagged on a fic here and im killing them all, it's not very good action but yeah, man these are Interesting tags to have on a club penguin fanfic huh, my first full fic and it's a retelling of the first club penguin ds game, robot death, suprise party, teleportation malfunction, uh oh, violence against robots, which i guess makes it a BIT more respectable but still
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-10
Updated: 2020-05-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:08:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 37,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23098360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RippleStarFairy/pseuds/RippleStarFairy
Summary: One of the PSA's newer recruits gets herself into a bigger mystery than she signed up for.
Relationships: The Agent "Ace"/Dot (Club Penguin)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 45





	1. Looking for Clues

** LOOKING FOR CLUES **

* * *

_Beep! Beep! Beep!_

The sounds of the Spy Phone's alert rang through the igloo. She jumped, her flippers losing grip on her book. She gave a grunt as it landed open on her face. She had already been holding it up close, thanks to having lost her glasses, so she figured she _was_ kind of asking for this. She slipped her bookmark into it, putting it to rest on the table as she grabbed the phone. She squinted. **REPORT TO HQ** could be read on its small display.

"Oh boy," she muttered to herself. Today was _supposed_ to be her day off, but it looked like G had something else planned. Hopefully it didn't involve testing another prototype of his. She got up from her spot on the couch, tucking the Spy Phone away.

"Sorry, Blitz, I've gotta go! I'll be back as soon as I can. Love you, bye!" Blitz, her puffle, barely stirred in his sleep at the sounds of his owner rushing out the door.  
  


The _ding!_ of the door's bell caught the attention of the cashier a little more than she had hoped. The orange penguin behind the cash register waved.

"Welcome to the Sport Shop. Feel free to browse through our store," he called.

_Shoot,_ she thought, maybe I should've warped in today...

"Afternoon, um..." She squinted harder. Dang it, which one was he again? Thanks to her shifts, she already didn't know the day staff very well. Not being able to make out his face didn't help any.

"Tim," he finished her trailed-off sentence. "It's Tim... Aren't you the stock clerk?'

"Yeah! I'm Jazz. Sorry I didn't recognize you, I lost my glasses. Is everything alright here?"

"Yeah, the shop's fine. Why are _you_ in so early, though?"

"Gary called me in." she flashed the Spy Phone, before putting it back just as quickly.

Tim cocked an eyebrow. "That's funny, I haven't actually _seen_ him today... Or at _all_ this week, for that matter."

"It's only Tuesday," Jazz shrugged, trying her best not to worry. "He's probably in the Gadget Room- I wouldn't be surprised if he passed out there."

"Yeah, a couple of penguins already tried to get up there, but the door's locked. Guess I'm not the only curious one." That wasn't what she meant by that, but she'd take it. "Wait, that reminds me! Your glasses are missing, right?"

She nodded. "I can't really see right now."

"Hold on, I've got just the thing!"

Jazz shifted her weight impatiently as he rummaged through drawers. She _really_ needed to get into HQ, but she couldn't just sneak into the change room while he was busy _getting something for her_. That would just be rude...

"Ta-da!" Finally, Tim held up a pair of glasses. Jazz took them into her own flippers as she examined them closer. She tried not to cringe. They were _old_. There was a thin layer of dust on the thick round lenses, the arms were completely misshapen, and the beakpiece was held together with yellowed masking tape. They were horrible, yet familiar. If she just imagined them _less_ damaged...

"Are these _Gary's?_ " Jazz’s words were hesitant, but she had never seen anyone else bend their glasses like that- not even on purpose.

"Yep. They're an old pair he keeps around just in case. _I_ always wanted to try them on, myself, but I don't think he'd mind you borrowing them." Tim smiled. She wiped the dust off with her scarf and smiled back warily.

"Well" -she hesitated- "it's gotta be better than this. Thanks, Tim."

It did not occur to her until the glasses were already on her face that Gary's prescription might be different from hers. And it was.

Oh dear, _was it **ever**_.

At least she could _kind of_ see things without putting her beak up to them now.

The bell on top of the door rang again, marking the entrance of a customer. Jazz sighed in relief. That was _just_ the distraction she needed. As Tim greeted them, she stumbled her way into the "out of order" change room, entering the Headquarters of the Penguin Secret Agency.

"Sorry if I'm late, the cashier wanted to chat and-" Jazz stopped in her tracks, silent as the doors locked behind her. Gary was _not_ there. The only other penguin in the room was one she'd never seen before- purple-feathered, wearing a nice suit and square white sunglasses. The stranger's blonde hair was tied up in a bun. She held a folder in her flippers, and, overall, looked very professional- almost like one of the pictures from the F.I.S.H. (Factual Informative Spy Handbook) come to life.

Jazz got the feeling she'd be very cute if she could see her properly, but that was not at the forefront of her mind.

" _You're_ not G." That was obvious, but she couldn't think of much else to say. "Where is he?"

The strange woman sighed. "We've been wondering the same thing. That's why I called you in. I don't normally work with PSA agents, but _someone's_ gotta fill in for him."

"He's _missing_?" Jazz's face fell. Penguins weren't like puffles or coins. If _they_ were missing, something very bad _must_ have happened. G wouldn't just wander off like a curious pair of puffles- not without notifying someone, at least- and he _certainly_ wouldn't just be misplaced by some giant magnet.

"Afraid so, ace." The woman frowned.

"Uh." _Ace?_ That was a new one. "It's J. And who _are_ you? I've never seen you around here."

A chuckle escaped the woman. " _That_ means I've been doing my job right. I'm Agent D- the Disguise Gal. Agents of your rank aren't really supposed to know about me."

Jazz nodded and made an understanding noise, though she didn't really understand.

"So, um... _D_? Why did you call _me_ in and not any of the other agents? This seems more like the jet pack guy's thing." She shifted on her feet uncomfortably. That wasn't her biggest question, but it seemed like the one most likely to get an answer.

"The jet pac-?" D looked confused until it clicked. She seemed amused by the title, a smirk working its way onto her beak. " _Ohh_ , no, _he's_ busy with another agent right now- you know the one in the propeller cap and red sunglasses?"

Jazz nodded, so she continued. "He was _supposed_ to be watching out for reckless snowboarders on the Ski Hill, but we lost contact with him a while ago."

"We _what?!"_

"He probably just fell down the Test Run, don't worry. I'm sure our _jet pack guy_ will be back with him soon enough. But that's not why you're here, anyways." D handed Jazz the folder. A photograph of the Gadget Guy himself was secured to the front of the file with a paperclip, making the subject of its contents clear.

"The Director requested a fresh pair of eyes to help with the search," D pushed her sunglasses up onto her head to make eye contact. Jazz repressed the urge to laugh nervously. "And from what _I've_ heard about you, I think you can help us look for clues in more... _secure_ locations."

"Such as...?"

"Well, turn around and you'll see _one_ of them." D gestured forward, putting a flipper on her hip. "Unfortunately for us, G really took "for your eyes only" seriously when designing the security system. None of us have been able to get in there."

Jazz turned to look at the door to the Gadget Room. She tapped her beak in thought, murmuring as she did. "I've been in there. G had to unlock it for me, though..." She waddled over to the Eye Scan 3000. "He just scanned his eyes here, and... _Hm_."

She leaned over, putting her face up to the goggle-shaped scanner. It beeped quietly as a bright green light shone into her eyes.

"That's not gonna work, ace. From what I've heard, not even the Director's eyes could unlock tha-"

**"Eye scan... FAILED."** A mechanical voice rang out, interrupting D.

"Told you."

Jazz groaned, about to stand up straight, before the voice interjected again.

**"Secondary override... SUCCESS! Gadget Room Door: Unlocked. _Welcome back, G!_ "**

D was dead silent.

"... How in the world did you _**do** _that?"

Jazz shrugged. "I figured since these are his glasses, that might do _something_..."

'Hold on, those are _his glasses_? _Why_ do you- nevermind. Let's just look for clues and hope you have the same luck unlocking his office..."

The both of them walked in, beginning their search. Jazz had only been inside once, but it felt like something was _**off**_. _Missing_ , even... Other than Gary himself, of course. The Gadget Guy was still nowhere to be found.

"Do you have any idea what's in the crates, ace? I can't lie, it's been a while since I've been in here."

Of course, there _were_ also the boxes. _Those_ were definitely new. Jazz shook her head. "No idea. I was in here a few weeks ago, but it didn't look like this then... I probably wouldn't mess with them, though."

"Wasn't planning on it."

Jazz decided to walk over to the table where the Alarm Clock and Boom Box sat and rifled through the drawers. She was very careful to not touch either invention- a mistake she had made with the former, and, given the _fuse_ on its back, did not want to make with the latter. There were a bunch of tools, and...

"Hey, D, I think I found something?" She held up a device that resembled a feather duster. D stepped away from the crates to get a better look at it.

"That looks like an attachment, and I've got a hunch as to what it's for..." She pulled out what resembled a tiny blue laptop- the same hue as the Spy Phone, and small enough to fit in one's flipper. Jazz could safely say she'd never seen anything quite like it.

"Would you mind giving me that?"

It was only then that she realized she was staring.

"Oh, yeah! Here." A faint heat grew in her cheeks. D, though, didn't seem to notice, and clicked the duster into a slot in the device. It promptly whirred to life.

"A-ha!" The device's feathered end spun for a few seconds, before a small compartment in the laptop-looking thing opened up and it folded itself in. D slipped it back into her pocket.

"... What _is_ that thing?" Jazz couldn't help but ask.

" _That_ was my Spy Gadget. Think of it as a Spy Phone, but with a few extra tools. It helps to _not_ have to carry around a bunch of things when you're trying to be stealthy." D turned and waddled away, stopping just before the doorway out of the Gadget Room. "We should probably continue with our investigation. Head to the Ski Village, I'll be with you in a minute."

"So, what's the plan?" Jazz jumped at the voice, turning towards its source. A purple penguin stood next to the pile of inner tubes by the Sport Shop. She wore a lavender trench coat and scarf, and her blonde hair fell just below her beak. If not for her voice, Jazz probably wouldn't have recognized her as D.

_In a minute my foot,_ she thought, _she got changed and **still** got here first._

"Gee, you startled me..." she awkwardly chuckled, "At least I get why you call yourself the Disguise Gal now."

D laughed, which had a warm, pleasant sound. "Trust me, that nickname was _not_ my idea. But seriously, what now?"

Jazz looked around. A part of her wanted to ask why someone who seemed to outrank her by a longshot was asking **_her_** \- someone who had only been an agent for a few _months_ \- for advice, but couldn't bring herself to.

"I say we split up. You head to the Dock, I head up the Ski Hill- we'll cover more ground that way. If we find any clues, we call each other. If not, we meet up at the Beach and plan from there." Jazz handed the folder back to D.

She took it with a smile. "Good strategy. I think I can see why the Director wanted you."  
  


And so they were off- Jazz hopped on the Ski Lift, taking a moment to be amused by how the belt she'd used as a temporary fix was _still_ there, and D walked towards the shore.

There was nothing of note on the way up the hill, as expected. She hopped off the Lift at the top, and looked around. There were plenty of snowboarders and sledders, either waiting for people to compete against or just about to start.

Overall, it was _disappointingly_ average.

She was just about to waddle over to get a quick look at the Test Run, when an uneven patch of snow made her trip and fall. She sat up, removing the glasses in a hope to get a better look at it. They were starting to give her a headache, anyways.

There were... _things_ in the pile. Given the silvery shine to what could be seen beneath the snow, they looked metallic. _Bingo._ She stood back up and leaned against the signpost, pulling out her Spy Phone.

"Hey, D? I found something kind of weird. I think you should come up here."

"I'll be right there. Over and out!" D's voice replied. Jazz hardly had the time to put her phone back before D warped in right in front of her. _**Man** , that was fast._ It usually took her Spy Phone at _least_ thrice that to get her anywhere.

"So, I think your mechano-duster or whatever might help here..." Jazz gestured to the snow pile. D nodded, tapping something on the Spy Gadget's bottom screen, and the device folded itself out.

"Here's to hoping G actually completed this," D joked.

Thankfully for them both, it seemed he had, and it dusted away the pile of snow with ease, revealing the items underneath; a few springs, a paperclip, an old lollipop, and...

Jazz picked it up, grinning as she recognized it. "This looks like the key to Gary's Room! It's a little bent, though..."

"Good find, ace!" D patted her on the back. "Let's head back down and try it."

They both got on the Ski Lift, heading down to the Ski Village.  
  


"I didn't find anything, myself, but I did find someone who saw him before he disappeared," D said. "They saw him twice two days ago, and he was wearing some huge device on his back. They said it looked like a vacuum cleaner with a satellite dish."

"That's... _weird_."

"Sure is, but at least we have witnesses. That penguin probably wasn't the only one who saw him. If we ask around, we should be able to get a better idea of where he went." D looked hopeful, _confident_ even. It was comforting to see, especially so closely... "If everything goes smoothly, I figure that once the rookie is brought back, the four of us can get an idea of where he is in no time!"

"... Provided the key doesn't make that unnecessary?" Jazz offered.

"Of course. And here we are!" The Ski Lift had brought them to the bottom of the hill. D hopped off the seat, Jazz following right behind her.  
  


_Ding!_

"Welcome to the Sport Sho- oh hey again, Jazz. Who's your friend?"

"Her name's Dee," she answered Tim absentmindedly, focused on getting to Gary's Room.

Tim quickly realized where she was headed and sighed. "I thought I told you that door was locked. No one's been able to get i-"

"Maybe so," D interrupted, "but we think we found the key. We're going to try to check in on Gary."

"Does he... _know_ you?" His tone was skeptical. Jazz was sure his face was too, but she was too busy inserting the bent key into the lock. D's objection that _of course_ they knew each other was drowned out as she focused. It took a little bit of effort, but otherwise, it was a perfect fit. Her breath hitched in excitement. Now to turn it _ever_ so slightly...

"Oh _no_ ," she said louder than intended. D was immediately alerted.

"What happened, Jazz?"

"The key-!" She held up the part that was still in her flipper. "It- it snapped in _half!_ "

D shook her head. "Don't take it too hard, kid. That key was in poor shape to begin with." She walked over, placing a comforting flipper on Jazz's shoulder, and quietly added, "we've already made a lot of progress on this case, thanks to you. I'll notify the Director that you found the key to Gary's Room, and I'll take the broken key and see if there's any way to fix it."

"Thank you, D..."

"No, thank _you_."


	2. All's Weld That Ends Weld

** ALL'S WELD THAT ENDS WELD **

* * *

"Oh hello, Jazz!" D greeted her as she entered the Dojo. She stood against one of the walls. "It's good to see you again... And I can assume it's good to _see_ me too, if those are actually _your_ glasses this time."

"Hi D," she let out a chortle despite herself, rolling her eyes. It _was_ nice to be able to see her without being so close (though being close was nice in its own way). "And yeah, I managed to find them. Apparently, Blitz stole and hid them in his bed. He's such a butt sometimes."

"Blitz?" D raised an eyebrow.

"He's my puffle."

" _Ohh!_ What kind?"

"Black."

D made an amused noise in response.

" _Anyways_ ," Jazz continued, "has there been any progress on the investigation?"

"No." She was back to the more serious air she had when they'd met. "But the Director is planning an expedition in search of G. For now, I'm waiting for my team to assemble."

"So..." Jazz's eyes drifted around the room. "Did you find anything out about the key that broke?"

"Yes! In fact, I found someone who can help us fix it.

"Great! Why are we in the _Dojo_ , then?"

"Let's just say our _repairman_ is here." D winked.

Jazz turned away from D, looking around at the penguins there. The Dojo wasn't particularly busy right now, so that certainly limited the options. Most of the few were playing Card-Jitsu, all seeming very caught up in their matches. The only exception was the Sensei, who sat at the back of the room, either meditating or just asleep.

None of them looked like they would be much help.

"Uh... Could you be more specifi-?" She stopped mid-sentence as she looked back at D, who was crouched down and fiddling with a panel on the wall. Jazz was at a complete loss for words.

_Click!_ Whatever D was doing, it must have worked. She backed up, and the panel opened, revealing a stairway.

"What was that?" D looked over her shoulder.

"... Nnnevermind. We're going down there?"

D nodded, walking onto the first step. Jazz hurried past the doorway, and D closed it behind them.

"First the Sport Shop, now the Dojo... The agency _really_ likes secret doors, huh?" she joked, looking around the stairway. It was dimly lit by a few lanterns, and was overall in the same style as the main building. Jazz had to guess that the PSA 'adopted' this place as opposed to having built it themselves.

"Ha, you don't know the half of it. If you keep up the good work, you might end up learning about the rest of them."

Eventually, the two of them came to a large room, which was decorated a little fancier than the Dojo above. Painted paper screens were placed against the back wall, potted plants were on either end of the room, and paper lanterns were strung along the ceiling. Less fancy, though, were the items that were clearly brought in by someone other than the decorator; an anvil, upon which both halves of the key sat, a bag of O' Berries, and a fire extinguisher.

And, of course, there _was_ the penguin who was most likely that someone, standing in the middle of the bamboo mat with a black puffle beside her. She was strong-looking, with speckled brown feathers, and wore a whistle around her neck, an unbuttoned khaki shirt over a pastel pink top, and a cowboy hat. A long brown ponytail hung over her shoulder. Overall, she contrasted with the room so much it was jarring.

"G'day, _D_ ," she greeted, her tone almost teasing. D rolled her eyes, letting out a single _ha_. "And I take it _you're_ who she's been telling me about! What’s the good word, Ace?"

"Uh...?" Jazz had absolutely no idea what that was supposed to mean. She looked over at D for help, panicked.

"She's asking you what's up," D whispered.

" _Oh!_ Agent-y stuff, I guess? More importantly, though... _who_ are you?"

"You can call me PH. Puffle Handler's too much of a mouthful. I heard you had a key problem?"

"Wait, are _you_ gonna fix it?"

PH laughed. "Nah, I can't. But this puffle can! Meet Flare!" She gestured to the puffle at her side. It looked just as sullen as any other black puffle. "Watch this!"

D readied herself by the fire extinguisher as the Puffle Handler tossed an O' Berry to the creature. It caught it in its mouth, swallowed, and... nothing. At most, the puffle looked _less_ cheerful. Maybe even a little _ill_. A worried silence filled the room, as all three knew that to not be typical behaviour.

"What's the matter, Flare?" PH crouched down, stroking its fur. "Where's your _flare_?"

"What do you think is the matter with him?" D came to her side, a flipper to her beak.

"Maybe he needs more O' Berries?" Jazz suggested, though her tone betrayed her lack of confidence in the idea.

"Flare spends a lot of time at the Coffee Shop," PH replied, completely ignoring the suggestion, "maybe a friend there could help..."

"I'll check it ou-" A familiar series of _beep_ s cut D off. She took the Spy Gadget out of her coat pocket, opening it. She frowned. " _Shoot_. Looks like my search party's waiting for me."

PH shook her head and sighed. "Well isn't _that_ just our luck."

"Sorry Paige... I'm sure J can help with this. She's pretty good for a rookie." She went in for a quick hug. "I'll see you after we're done."

D then disappeared in a flash of blue.

"I'll do whatever I can to help," Jazz smiled nervously. Being called that only made her uncomfortably aware of her position. "Just point me in the right direction! You said to check out the Coffee Shop, right?"

"I'll stay here and take care of Flare" -she nodded- "and yeah. You go see what the poor puffle's been up to."

"Got it."

Despite her instruction, Jazz entered the Pet Shop. It was on the way to the Coffee Shop, anyways, and she figured she could use some advice.

"Welcome to the Pet Shop. How can I help you?" a worker greeted her as she approached them.

"This might sound weird, but" -she started fidgeting- "do you know what could make a puffle act strangely?"

"Hm. Puffles are very friendly pets. If they're acting strangely, then they might need some attention. What seems to be the problem?"

"I know a black puffle that can't start its flame."

"Black puffles can always start a flame, as long as they're happy..." The worker paused in thought. "Sometimes puffles just need a bit of a fuss. You should try doing something nice for it!"

"Thank you, you've been very helpful."

They smiled. "That's what we're here for."

Now she had to figure out _what_ to do for Flare...  
  


Jazz walked past the Snow Forts, grateful there wasn't a snowball fight currently going on, and into the Town. A green penguin with a pink tuque and cat-eye glasses left the Coffee Shop. She smiled. She, like most penguins on the island, knew this face very well.

"Hi, Aunt Arctic!" Jazz waved.

"Oh, hello there, Jasmin!" She returned the greeting with a smile. "It's a beautiful day, don't you think?"

"Yeah, it's pretty nice." In reality, it was colder than Jazz would have liked, but that was a " _her_ " problem more than anything. "How are you doing?"

"I'm very well, thank you. Just taking a waddle before I start work on this week's newspaper."

She nodded. "It's good talking to you." She started walking into the Coffee Shop, but Aunt Arctic stopped her.

"You look like you have a lot on your mind. Is something wrong?"

She sighed. No use hiding it. "I'm trying to help a puffle who's acting a little strangely."

"Oh! I _adore_ my puffles, and I always say a little kindness goes a long way."

"That's good advice. Thank you."

"I'm glad you feel that way." Aunt Arctic pulled out something from in between the pages of her notepad. "Here, why don't you take this postcard? It's the least I can do to help a fellow penguin!"

"Thanks, that's very kind of you. Have a good waddle!" She took it. It had a picture of a pair of sledding penguins on the front, with a caption reading **You're a Terrific Friend!**. It was a little too cheesy for her tastes, but she was sure _someone_ would like it.

"I wonder who I could give this to..." Jazz pondered aloud as she tucked it away, next to her Spy Phone. She entered the Coffee Shop.

"Hey," she approached the barista, "do you kn-"

"Ack- I'm sorry, no time to talk! I tipped this bag over and spilled the beans!" the barista interrupted. Indeed, there were coffee beans all over the floor. It was quite a mess. They were trying their best to scoop them back into the bag, but they didn't seem to be making much progress. Jazz repressed the urge to make a joke about fresh _ground_ coffee.

"Here, let me help." She got down on the floor next to them. The barista began to protest, but quickly shut their mouth, accepting the assistance.

It took a while, and Jazz wished she had D's Spy Gadget to help her, but the beans _did_ get cleaned up. She even found a pen! _Neato._

"Thanks for your help," the barista sighed in relief, getting back behind the counter.

"I found this pen, too. Do you know anyone who's missing one?" Jazz really just wanted to keep it, but she figured she'd ask before taking it.

"Huh. That pen must have fallen into the bag when I knocked it over. You can keep it if you like."

"Thanks!" She tucked the pen behind one of the arms of her glasses. "Now that there's no more mess, can I ask you some questions?"

"Sure. How can I be of service?"

"Do you know a puffle named Flare?"

The barista seemed caught off guard, presumably having expected a drink-related question. "Yes, actually! Flare used to be the only puffle who could boil the water hot enough for the triple fudge hot cocoa."

That sounded _really_ good right now, but Jazz was on a mission. Hot cocoa could wait until later. "When was the last time you saw him?"

"He came by yesterday, but I was too busy to play. I was learning how to make the new triple fudge cocoa with our coffee machine."

"Do you know if he has any other friends?"

"Flare spends a lot of time playing games with the Snowball Crew... They're probably at the Snow Forts right now."

"Got it! Thanks for the help, I'm going to take good care of Flare!" Back to the Snow Forts it was, then. She waved goodbye and ran out the door.  
  


She paused for a moment to catch her breath as she arrived back at the Snow Forts. Two penguins in winter gear were working on one of the forts. She gulped, walking towards them.

"Heyyy," Jazz greeted apprehensively, "are you guys the Snowball Crew?"

"Yeah," the light blue penguin paused his work to answer her. "We're getting the Snow Forts ready for the next snowball fight with our friend Flare."

"The snow's really nice today! Flare's gonna _love_ it," the red penguin chirped.

"Oh, cool." A snowball fight with the _one_ kind of puffle that could burst into flames didn't seem like the _best_ idea to her, but getting information was more important than questioning _that_ choice. "How do you know Flare, though?"

"He's a member of the Snowball Crew." Blue shrugged.

"Flare once helped me signal Captain Rockhopper from the Beacon!" Red answered.

"Well, um..." Those weren't very helpful answers, but Jazz decided to persist. "When was the last time you saw Flare?"

Red cocked her head. "I thought he was still on vacation."

"Well, the last time _I_ saw Flare, I was too busy to play. If you don't mind, I'm gonna get back to work. These forts need to be awesome next time Flare sees them!"

Jazz sighed, her frustration getting to her. "Go right ahead."

She wandered back into Town, untucking the pen from her glasses. She clicked it as she plopped down at the table in front of the Coffee Shop to think.

"Oh, you're back too! How do you like your postcard, dear?" Aunt Arctic smiled warmly at her, sliding into the seat next to her.

_She must've only gone for a short waddle_ , Jazz figured.

"Actually, do you have any suggestions on what I should _do_ with it?" She slumped over onto the table.

Aunt Arctic patted her on the back. "Whatever you do, remember that kindness is the best medicine."

"Wait, _medicine_...?" Something about the word clicked, and Jazz jolted up in her seat, pulling out the postcard. She had an idea.

"Hey! My puffle friend isn't feeling great, do you think you could sign it for him?" Jazz slid the postcard and pen towards Aunt Arctic.

"Oh, of course I'll sign this postcard for your puffle!" She quickly scrawled her signature onto the card before returning it. "I hope he feels better soon."

"So do I." Jazz took the two items and stood up from the table. "It's good talking to you!"

"Likewise. Have a good day."  
  


"Hey, sorry to bother you..." She walked into the Coffee Shop again, handing the pen and postcard to the barista. "But could you sign this postcard for Flare?"

They looked a little confused, but they smiled. "You know, Flare's an unusual puffle. I bet he'd love to get a postcard like this."

Soon enough, there was a second signature on the card.

"Thanks for your help!" Jazz waved with the postcard in flipper, headed to the Snow Forts for the _third_ time today.   
  


"Okay, this is gonna sound weird," she said, catching the attention of the Snowball Crew, "but could you two sign this postcard for Flare?"

"Oh, Flare would love a postcard from all of his friends!" Red gasped.

"Yeah! If it's for Flare, I'll sign a super special signature." Blue took the pen and card, writing his name alongside the rest. He then handed them to his friend, who did the same, before returning them to Jazz.

She smiled. "Flare's lucky to have great friends like you. Thank you both."

They both went back to reinforcing their fort. Jazz took a quick look around to make sure no one was looking, before pulling out her Spy Phone and warping back to the Dojo.  
  


Once the blue cleared from her eyes and the nausea subsided, she stumbled into the building. Teleportation always made her feel so _weird_. _Ugh._ Jazz kept her flipper against the wall as she waddled, looking for the secret door D had opened earlier.

"A-ha!" She had found an odd-looking carving in the wood, portraying seven puffles in a circle. _Perfect!_

Her smile fell as she realized she hadn't actually _watched_ D open the door. _Grub._ She slapped her flippers against the carving in a panic, hoping to somehow copy what D had done to unlock it.

After a while, she simply put her head against the wall, staring vacantly down at the floor. _Oh gosh, I'm an **awful** agent,_ she couldn't help but think. Something on the ground caught her eye- shiny, small, and gold. She picked it up. It was a pin shaped like a puffle. In fact, it looked a lot like one of the carvings... She pushed it into the matching puffle carving, making it produce the same _click!_. A weight shifted against her. It was _that_ simple.

Jazz banged her head against the wall.

She tossed a glance over her shoulder, only to find that, while the building _was_ a little busier than it was earlier, the penguins in it were just as caught up in their own business. She snuck in, quick to close the door behind her.  
  


"Welcome back, mate," PH greeted, "there's been no change in Flare's condition. You found a way to make him feel better?"

"I hope so." Jazz pulled out the postcard and crouched down. "Hey, Flare! I have something for you."

She put it on the floor for the glum puffle, then flipped it over for him to read the back. His eyes lit up, and a grin spread across his little face. Jazz smiled back at him. He almost seemed to have a _glow_ to him...

"Ack!" She jumped back as the puffle burst into flames.

"Woah! He just fired up without using an O' Berry! That's amazing!" PH grabbed the fire extinguisher, but it proved to be unnecessary, as the flames went out almost as quickly as they appeared.

"I guess all he needed was to know his friends missed him..." Jazz smiled to herself. _How sweet._

"You've done a great job, Agent! Now I can show you how to work with Flare to fix your key." PH pulled a whistle- much like the one she wore- out from one of her pockets and tossed it to Jazz, who struggled to catch it. "You'll need that to get the puffle to come to you."

_Squeak!_

Flare's attention was immediately brought to Jazz. She looked to PH for further instruction.

"Well, Flare _is_ already here," she commented, "but that works. Now you're gonna need to point him at what you want to weld."

"... What if I point at something that _can't_ be welded?" Jazz raised an eyebrow.

"Don't worry, Flare will know what to do."

"Alright. I guess I'm ready to weld, then." She pointed to the key.

"Excellent."

Flare hopped up on the anvil, nudging a welding mask over his eyes.

"I suggest you look away for this part." PH closed her eyes and turned away. Jazz did the same. After the sounds of welding stopped, they both turned back. Jazz grinned, rushing over to the anvil.

"Wow, it looks good as new!" She picked up the key, looking it over. "Thanks for the help, you two!"

"No worries!" PH waved a flipper dismissively. "I'd be happy to train you how to use more of the Elite Puffles anytime."

Jazz went silent for a moment, her eyes wide.

"There's _more_ puffles like Flare?"

"Of course there are!" PH laughed. "I'd love to introduce them, but you're on-duty, aren't ya? You should probably get that key where it's supposed to be."

"Oh. Yeah. I should... Hopefully I get to see you again soon, though!" Jazz set her Spy Phone's teleporter to **SPORT SHOP** , and she was off.  
  


Jazz was quite disoriented as the blue cleared from her vision, but she was certain she’d ended up in one of the _real_ change rooms. She held her head. That was a new one, but at least it got her in unnoticed. Though, as she opened the curtain, she realized that wasn’t a concern- the store was empty. A quick glance at the sign on the door revealed it was _closed_. _Whoops._ At least she _was_ an employee here. She had keys... even if those for the front door weren’t on her.

She slid the newly-repaired key into its lock, and _(thank goodness)_ it worked. Jazz climbed the stairs and flicked the lights on.   
  


It was weird being up there alone. Even at its quietest, the sounds of Gary working had always been present whenever she was here- usually only for the few minutes required to bring him the coffee he’d requested, but his absence made the room feel hollow anyways. It filled Jazz with unease.

The first thing she noticed was a blueprint on the floor. It was in the same spot as the others, but it wasn’t rolled up. It was more like it had been dropped. Further inspection showed its name to be in code. It took her a minute to read, but she soon understood it as **Super Power Flashlight**. She squinted. The illustration _sort of_ looked like a flashlight, so that probably wasn’t a mistranslation on her behalf.

That didn’t really help, though, so she continued her search. And the papers on his sofa were _certainly_ suspicious. They turned out to be maps, though she had to look at the titles to discern what of. Why was Gary looking at maps of the _Mine_? Especially when they looked so old...

Jazz took one of the maps, hopeful it would help her, and went over to his desk. She ripped a blank piece of paper from a notebook and scribbled down a coded message for any other agents who decided to look up here. They _could_ help her search if they saw it, sure, but she wasn’t going to ask for their help. Not this time.

She was _certain_ G went to the Mine.


	3. Do It Yourself Carting

** DO IT YOURSELF CARTING **

* * *

The Mine. The clues she found in G's room led her here. Jazz took a deep breath and checked her Spy Phone for other agents in range. She was beginning to have second thoughts about going in alone, but the display listed no agents.

"Well, at least if _I_ go missing, they'll know where to look..." she forced herself to laugh. That was not a comforting thought. D and her group were still out on their search expedition, and she wasn't sure when they'd get back.  
  


Jazz had known it was a bad idea not to prepare before going down to the Mine. Worse than going in alone. She had grabbed a lantern (an electric one, as she didn't trust herself to light matches in the dark), a helmet, and a few other supplies, like snacks and water. She left the key to G's room on the desk underneath the I.S.E.E.U.- the _Island Surveillance Emergency Equipment Unit_ to those who had the time to actually _say_ that- as she had locked the door again to keep civilians out. She was ready- _physically_ , at least.

Now she just needed to find a minecart.   
  


She had searched for a while, but there weren't any in the Mine itself. She took the old elevator up to the Mine Shack. Maybe there would be carts up there instead?

"Howdy," a yellow-feathered miner greeted her between grunts. He was doing... _something_ with a whole lot of anvils. Whatever it was, he was _definitely_ moving them. "What business brings you to these parts?"

"Hello, uh... If you don't mind me asking, what exactly are _you_ doing?" Jazz didn't want to sound rude, but she wasn't sure why _anyone_ would even _try_ to lift those things.

"Actually, I'm sorting anvils. This work doesn't get done on its own, don'tcha know." He stacked one on top of two others with some effort.

"I... guess not." It never struck her as work that _needed_ to get done, but she supposed _someone_ had to prepare the anvils for the coffee bean truck. "But more importantly, I need to explore the Mine. Where are all the minecarts?"

The miner chuckled. "Well, that there is the million coin question! Lately, there's been a lot o' commotion coming from inside them tunnels..."

" _Commotion_?" Her eyes widened. "Have you seen anyone _go_ in the tunnels?"

" _That's_ the strange thing! I hear noises comin' from the rails, but the main track is empty."

"Surely there _has_ to be another way to ride through the tunnels..."

The miner put down another anvil to think. "Well, I suppose you could cobble up somethin' from scraps."

"What, you want me to build my own minecart?" she asked, incredulous.

"Why not?" He shrugged. "You seem the resourceful type."

She kind of hated that he was right. "Well, what is there for me to use?"

"There's a bunch of stuff out here and inside that there shed." -The miner gestured beside the Mine Shack- "Feel free to help yourself."

"I'll see what I can do..."

And he got back to work. Jazz waddled over to the shed, ready to check it out.

The shed was a bit of a mess. There was a slick patch of ice under one of the shelves, pulleys on ropes were strewn about haphazardly, and what looked to be a bucket of soot had been knocked over. Other than that, though, it was _relatively_ organized.

She took one of the pulley wheels into her flipper, pulling it off the rope. With a little work, she would bet it could make a strong minecart wheel. The other pulley, as she discovered, was covered in dust- it didn't look like anyone would miss it. Jazz stuffed them into her backpack, alongside her supplies. She still needed two more wheels and a body, though... She leaned onto a spool of rope as she thought.

It collapsed, and Jazz fell to the ground. She grunted in pain. The rope was still coiled around the cylindrical part of the spool, but the ends were no longer attached. It looked like the glue holding them together had come undone. A lightbulb turned on in her head. Wooden spool ends definitely weren't as strong as pulleys, but they _were_ lighter. They'd do. She stuffed them into her backpack, along with a few metal nuts, and left the shed. Wheels were good, but where would she find the _rest_ of the cart parts?

"You look befuddled," the miner remarked upon seeing her exit. That probably wasn't the word she would've used, but sure. 'Befuddled' worked.

"What... what makes a good minecart?"

He stroked his chin. "A good minecart has to be mighty hardy to ride them rails. The most important parts are welded together tightly so they don't fall to pieces along the way."

"It's strange work, making minecarts…" Jazz scratched her head. Well, she _would_ have been able to do the welding part earlier that day, but she wasn't sure if PH and Flare were still in the room below the Dojo... **_or_ **what PH would think of her bringing in a makeshift minecart to be welded.

"That's right, partner." He returned to his work once more. Jazz decided to look around the Mine Shack. Most of the stuff she needed had been in the shed, so hopefully the rest was around here too.

"I need a box," she murmured to herself as she walked, "just a big ol' box. Where do I find a _box_."

She stood at the tracks which led back into the Mine. A barrel and a trough sat next to them, meant to collect water from the roof.

"Hey, do you guys need this trough?" Jazz yelled over to the miner. He yelled back a _no_. _Thank goodness._ She tipped it over, spilling the frigid water out onto the snow. Looking at the upside-down trough, it _did_ look a lot like a minecart. She'd just take the 'wheels', put them on, and with enough work...  
  


Well, it was _almost_ a minecart. She had (with a bit of help) fashioned two makeshift axles out of some tree branches, drilled a couple holes in the trough for one of them, and fastened the wheels to the axles with nuts.

The only problem was the fact that the other axle -the one with the pulley wheels- couldn't be attached to the cart. Not only would both axles being in the minecart make it hard to ride in, but the pulleys were too small to be even with the spool ends. They _had_ to go on the outside.

"You'll gonna need to weld a piece o' metal to keep that on," the miner advised. "I might be able to find you a sheet, but we don't have any welding gear here right now."

Jazz groaned, plopping down onto the ground, exhausted and annoyed. Maybe she _should_ have waited for help...

A light _plonk_ against her chest distracted her from moping. She looked down. Oh yeah, she was still wearing the whistle PH had given her. What had she said, again? That blowing it would make the puffle come to her?

_Squeeeeeeak!_

Whatever it was, blowing it made her feel a little less upset.  
  


"Settle down, kid! I'm comin', I'm comin'," the miner yelled, carrying a scrap sheet of metal under one arm. _Oh yeah_ , there were others around.

Jazz smiled sheepishly as he approached. "Sorry, I was just... trying to destress."

"Making minecarts _is_ hard." He nodded. "... Say, how long has that puffle been with you?"

"Puffle?" She looked around, confused. " _What_ puff-?" Her eyes soon met with a black puffle sitting next to her. " _Oh_."

"Can you uh-... can you put that in place while I deal with this?"

He gave an amused sigh. "Sure thing."

"Flare?" Jazz squinted at the puffle. It gave her a knowing look. "Oh goodness, it is you, isn't it? Why are you _here_?"

Flare(?) hopped onto her lap and nudged the whistle. She rolled her eyes.

" _Yeah_ , I blew it, but I thought she meant it was a trained thing, y'know? Like, maybe if you were in the area, not paying attention..."

"Are you talking to that puffle, partner?"

Jazz went silent, eyes shifting from the miner, to Flare, then back again.

"I've had a _really_ long week."

The miner laughed. Presumably because it was still only Wednesday. "I know _that_ feeling."

He walked away, still chuckling to himself. Jazz stood up to check out the minecart, and Flare jumped from her lap.

"Well, as long as you're here, I could use your help." She now felt a little silly about talking to a puffle in public, but that was less important than getting Gary back. She pointed to the loose sheet of metal which had been bent around the axle. Flare hopped up on the cart, and she turned away.

In no time, Flare's work was done. He gave a squeak as a cue that it was safe for her to look again. She pawed at one of the pulley wheels to test it and saw that it spun well.

"Thanks a lot, lil guy," She patted Flare's head. "Now you get back to whatever you were up to. I don't want PH to worry about you."

The black puffle hopped down from the now-completed minecart, following his own tracks back to... wherever he'd come here from. Jazz, with a bit of effort, flipped the cart right-side-up and onto the tracks. She was ready to find G. But first, she wanted to do one last thing.

She waddled up to the miner once more. "Hey, um…"

He looked up from his work, then past her at the minecart. "You know, that has to be the craziest minecart I ever saw! Looks sturdy, though. I sure think it'll do the job. Are you on your way now?"

"I hope it does. But... I've got one last favour to ask of you." She fidgeted with the whistle.

"You can count on me, partner. What's shakin'?" He seemed to pick up on her worry.

"If any other penguins ask, can you tell them that I took the last minecart into the mines? I'm not sure how long I'll be down there..."

"Sure thing, just be careful in them old tunnels. I've heard they're pretty tricky."

"Do you have any tips for traveling the older mine tunnels, then?"

"Watch out for places where you need to duck and jump. Too many cart surfers have gotten hurt by not payin' attention down there."

"Until next time, then." She hoped there could be a next time.

"Keep an eye out for them missing carts, if you can!" the miner added as she waddled back to her cart. She rolled it down towards the old tunnels, double checking her map.  
  


Hopefully she was riding down the right rail.  
  


Jazz used her lantern to look out for obstacles, barely managing to duck down to avoid boarded-up tunnels a few times. One particularly low board had even banged against her helmet. The ride was long, though she couldn't be sure of exactly how much time she had spent in the tunnel. But eventually, she reached the end of the track... in what looked to be a cavern. She gulped, removing her helmet and cautiously getting out of her cart. She _had_ to find G.  
  


Her little lantern did not piece the darkness very well, but from what she could see, the cavern was in an unnatural disarray. Someone -or some _thing_ \- had clearly been down here. Broken and rusted minecarts lay around the cave, along with a few old anvils, most of which still had deflated yellow balloons tied to them, a barrel, and some rope, which she picked up. It was _always_ a good idea to have rope.

It was worth noting that the cave was far from silent. The hissing of a steam geyser filled the area, along with... _something_ else. She couldn't place the noise, but it unsettled her and- _Did that minecart just move?_ Her blood froze.

"... _Hello?_ " Jazz spoke up, slowly approaching the cart. It wasn't rusted like the others. The unknown noise grew louder, and now she could clearly tell it was coming from under this cart. What _was_ it? It almost sounded like...

"Help! I'm trapped under here..." The voice was weak and scratchy, but she could definitely recognize it. Her heart raced.

"G?! I-is that you?" She dropped to the ground and peered into the large crack at the bottom of the cart. She could _swear_ she could make out a glint of light from his glasses, even if barely.

" _Yes!_ And I'm stuck underneath this heavy minecart!" There was a feeble 'thump' from the inside of the cart, presumably from Gary hitting it with his flipper.

"Don't worry, G! It's Agent J, and I came here to find you!"

"Thank goodness, Jasmin... My head hurts and I'm seeing stars. Can you get this thing off of me?"

"I'll see what I can do, but how did you even end up under there?"

"I..." Gary paused, trying to think. "I'm not sure. All I know is that this minecart is much heavier than the ones we use for cart surfing."

Jazz was already on the weak side, so there was no way she would be able to budge that thing. She pushed herself up from the cave floor and tried to think, but a loud hiss of steam quickly derailed her train of thought.

"Oh, right, I just remembered..." Jazz took off her backpack, rummaging through it until she found a granola bar. She pushed it through the crack in the cart. "It's not much, but you're probably hungry. I'd give you the water bottle, too, but I don't think it'll fit through there..."

" _Thank you_ , Agent."

Now, back to thinking. She began to pace. She just had to find something to lift up the cart. Maybe she could make a lever, or... A deflated balloon squished underneath her foot. She grinned.

She grabbed her Spy Phone, clicking a button to use its scissors, and cut the string that held it to the anvil. She did the same to the other two balloons, then ran back to the cart. She tied the rope around its axles.

"What's going on out there?" Gary's voice sounded worried.

"I tied a rope to the base of the cart. I've got an idea."

"Just... don't try to lift it off by yourself."

"Don't worry, G, I know I'm not strong enough for that."

She stretched the opening of one balloon over the geyser and watched it inflate, before quickly tying it back up. The steam was lighter than expected. If she held more than one filled balloon, she would swear she'd end up floating away. Struggling to hold onto it, she tied it to the rope. The minecart seemed to move a little. She grinned, hurrying to repeat the process two more times.

"It's working, Agent! Excellent!"

Soon enough, the cart floated into the air, and Gary was freed. He sat up, and Jazz helped pull him onto his feet. He was a disheveled mess. His blue feathers were thoroughly ruffled, and his usually pristine white lab coat was torn and stained with dirt. Given that he had been missing for a few days now, though, that was kind of to be expected. He rubbed at a lump on his head.

"Well, it's not every day you see a flying minecart," G observed.

"Yep." Jazz watched it rise. "Looks like it's floating towards those stalagmites..."

He gave her a look. "Wait... Don't you mean stalactites?"

_Bang! Bang! Bang!_

**_CRASH!_ **

Indeed she had. The balloons were now nothing but yellow rubber shreds, and the cart had dropped near-instantly, _right_ in front of the entrance to the cave. The blood drained from Jazz's face. They were trapped.

"So much for those balloons..." Gary commented, waddling over to observe the wreck. From a glance, Jazz could see that the rope she'd used had also snapped. _Great._

"At least you're free, G." Jazz plopped herself onto the ground with a sigh. "You won't believe all the work it took to track you down..."

"And I'm very grateful for it!" He sounded preoccupied, but she could tell his words were genuine.

"So, I guess **_we're_** stuck down here now." Jazz winced. "Maybe I should've thought this 'rescue mission' out a little more..."

"I'm sure we'll figure something out," Gary assured. "Say, did you _make_ this? If so, that's some remarkable inge-... ingen-?" He shook his head, trying to regain his wits. " _Resourcefulness_."

"With a little help, yeah. Thanks. I don't think there's much to work with _here_ , though..." She was trying her best to ignore how worried she was about his condition. While important, there wasn't much they could do about it while stuck in this cavern. She stood back up and dusted herself off. "Guess I'll try looking around again, but no guarantees it'll help."

Something almost-instantly caught her eye, thanks to its unnatural colouration. It looked to be a large battery with a handle, crank, and lightbulb attached to it. She picked it up, pressing the button on the handle. Nothing happened. She spun the crank, but nothing happened. She tried doing both at the same time, and still, nothing.

"Hey, Gary" -she held it up- "do you know what this is? I think it was under the cart with you."

He came over to get a better look at it. "It _does_ look familiar, somehow... It's a miracle it's still intact if that's the case, though."

"You know..." She squinted, turning it over in her flippers. "I _think_ I found the plans for this in your room above the Sport Shop. This is the Super Power Flashlight, right?"

G practically lit up with recognition. "Yes, _yes_ , it's coming back to me now! I had that with me when I crashed!"

"Great! Do you think you can fix it, then? I'm pretty sure the battery's dead."

He laughed. " _Fix_ it? I should be able to do better than that! Just snap it into your Spy Gadget."

Silence.

"... Why are you giving me that look? It should light up this place much better than that little lamp."

"G, I don't _have_ a Spy Gadget."

"Why _wouldn't_ you have one? It's standard issue for all EP-" He slapped a flipper over his mouth. "Oh dear. You're only a PSA agent, aren't you..."

"What do you mean, " _only_ a PSA agent"?" She took a defensive step back, clutching the flashlight to her chest.

"I should _not_ have said that. Forgive me, I'm still rather... _confused_." G began patting his lab coat down. "I might have one with me, don't worry..."

Jazz _was_ worrying, _particularly_ about what he meant by that comment, but she didn't want to show it. She pulled out her Spy Phone. **NO SIGNAL** , she struggled to read in the dim light. She'd expected as much.

"Do you think you could boost the Communicator signal so we can contact other agents?" she idly wondered. "I'd suggest the teleporter's signal, but that sounds a lot harder."

"Even if I had all my tools, it is _very_ hard to generate a signal that can get out from underground... A-ha!" He pulled out a Spy Gadget from one of his inside pockets. It looked a lot like D's, if only more scratched up. "Would you mind handing me the Super Power Flashlight?"

Reluctantly, she did, and he clicked it into the same slot D had done with the duster-thing. He held the flashlight by the handle and began turning the crank. Slowly, the lightbulb began to glow.

"I'd advise against looking directly at the bulb while this thing is on," he warned, though she wasn't planning to do that as-is. Jazz turned around to power off her lantern. Soon enough, bright light completely filled the cave, almost as if they were out in daylight. She stuffed it back in her backpack.

" _Wow_ , that thing's powerful..." she murmured, stunned. She looked around and quickly checked the map. It was no help. "Hey, do you have any idea where that goes?"

"Where what go-? _Oh_." Gary turned to look where she was pointing- it looked to be the entrance to another section of cave. "I... can't say I do. But there's only one way to find out!"

He waddled through the entryway, and she ran after him.

"This tunnel appears to be a natural cavernous formation..." he said to himself.

It was even messier here than the other 'room'. More minecarts lay in disarray, with various gears, screws, and springs strewn about.

"Where do you think all this debris came from...?" Jazz asked, careful not to step on an upward-facing screw that lay in her path.

"... I have no idea. It would seem improbable that these parts arrived here as a result of my crash."

"That's weird..." she muttered. "Do you think there's anything we could use to get out of here?" It wasn't usually her place to ask _him_ that, but it was worth a shot, even in this state.

Gary shook his head. "Not at all. These minecarts seem to have been stripped of their most useful components."

"I guess someone was here before us," Jazz suggested halfheartedly. She picked up an old coil of rope and gave it a good tug. It was _way_ too weak to help them move the minecart. She tossed it back onto the ground, moving on to inspect the rest of the junk.

There was suddenly a soft click, and the room went dark.

"G? What happened to the flashlight?!" Panic wormed its way into her voice, despite her best efforts.

"Nothing. I just turned it off," he replied, as if that was the most natural thing to do. "I had a theory I wanted to test."

"And that was...?"

"Look over here!"

Jazz tried her best to look in the direction Gary's voice came from as her eyes adjusted to the dark. When she did, she squinted at the light. _Wait, **light**?_

She had to do a double take. It streamed in in small irregular shapes, but it was unquestionably light.

"What the...?" she muttered, coming in for a closer look. The cave was _dim_ here, more than anything.

"It seems someone boarded up the entrance. Isn't that strange!" Gary exclaimed, knocking on one of the planks.

_Or the **exit**_ , Jazz thought to herself, shuddering.

"Doesn't look like they did it very well, then... This is an utter hack job." She raised a flipper to trace along the wood, but recoiled. "Eugh, _gross_ , it's wet. Guess we can't burn it..."

G laughed nervously. "I think burning this down would prove to be a _very_ bad idea even if it _wasn't_ wet, Agent. Smoke and poor air circulation are a bad combination."

"Oh. Right." Back to the drawing board, then. She tapped her beak. "So we have to break them down somehow..."

Jazz got an idea. Not a _good_ one, she felt, but definitely worth a shot. She removed the lantern and water bottle from her backpack, handed the latter to Gary without a word, and began clearing a path amongst the scraps. He shot her a concerned look as she slung the bag in front of one of one of her arms. She took a deep breath.

"You might want to back up," was the only warning she gave before she charged.

Splintering _cracks_ echoed through the cave as the wood gave in. She had broken through to the other side. Thankfully, her backpack had taken the brunt of the blow instead of her body, but she'd still ended up tumbling over. Jazz now lay in the snow, heels over head. She was a bit dazed, but she tried her best to regain her focus. She soon wished she hadn't, as she could swear something was looming over her. Her heart began to pound as she stared up at its silhouette.

" _Jasmin!_ " G cried from the cave. The figure flinched and sped off. _What was **that**?_ Were her eyes playing tricks on her?

He rushed out to check on her. "Is everything alright?"

"I thought I saw someone..." she moaned as she tried to push herself back right-side-up.

"I was more referring to _physically_ , but that _does_ sound strange."

"I'm a little sore, but I'm fine." With a little more effort, she stood. "Speaking of, we need to get you back to Headquarters... _And_ to get that bump looked at." She took out her Spy Phone, extended its antenna, and held it up.

"We look to be out in the Wilderness. I doubt we'll be able to warp there, even if we are outside."

"We don't need to warp." She swung the phone in the air. "We just need to get in contact with the other agents. They're probably looking for me, anyways."

"You didn't tell them you came here to find me, did you?" G sounded exasperated.

"I left a note! _You_ didn't tell anyone anything!"

"... Fair point," he admitted.

Jazz put the Spy Phone in her mouth, holding it between her teeth as she struggled to climb a nearby pine tree. When she deemed that she'd climbed high enough, she took it into her flipper. **ONE AGENT ONLINE**. She sighed in relief, calling them.

"Agent!" A gruff voice came from the receiver, punctuated by static. She'd never been so happy to be yelled at. "Can y......ead me? Where _are_ you?! We searched the Mine...........the only trace........witness report."

"You're coming in rough, but yes, I can read you. I'm out in the Wilderness behind the Mine, I think," she looked down at Gary to confirm their location. He shrugged. "But the important part is that I'm with G! Gimme a sec."

She moved her phone away from her head. "Say hi, G!"

"Hello!" he yelled.

" _See_?" she spoke back into the phone. What she was pretty sure was an irritated sigh came from the other end.

"I'll tell the......HQ to trace....call. _You_ stay in range, I'm.....pick you two up. Ove.....out"

"Help Phase Two is on the way, apparently!" Jazz delivered the news with a grin. "Now we just have to wait..."

A few hours and _much_ lecturing later, Jazz sat in the PSA Headquarters, clutching a cup of triple-fudge hot cocoa in her flippers. She was completely _drained_.  
When the two of them had arrived back at HQ, G had been taken away for medical examination. He was in relatively sound condition, considering he'd been stuck down there for a few days without food or water. The bump wouldn't have been a cause for concern... if not for the fact he clearly had some memory issues. It was speculated he had a concussion, but that didn't stop him from going back to work on his inventions as soon as possible. Practically nothing _could_.

Her efforts were commended by the Director (D had told her that), though her methods were dubious. The agents who had taken part in the search for her had made the latter well-known. Jazz had tried her best not to cry at their scoldings, but that was too much for her.

The worst of it was the restrained silence the jet pack guy had given her after their call. Jazz _knew_ he wanted to say _something_ , but he didn't. It made her horribly anxious.

D sat down at the table with a sigh. She was in full agent attire again, with her sunglasses pushed up. She looked tired too.

"G mentioned a notebook. Did you find _anything_ like that in the mines?" she asked. Jazz shook her head, staring at her drink.

"No. He probably lost it before he got there." She took a sip of her hot cocoa. It was now room temperature, but still sweet.

" _Great_. We don't know what's with the notebook _or_ why he went down there, and _he_ can't remember..." D held at her head. "We'll need to see what we can do to restore his memory tomorrow." She stood up.

"Oh yeah, the Director wanted me to give you this" -D slid a medal across the table- "for saving G. Just... don't go running off like that again. I know you've heard that a lot tonight, but you scared us _all_ pretty bad."

Jazz nodded. She'd heard _that_ a lot, too. D took out her Spy Gadget, and, given how much she'd already seen similar actions tonight, Jazz knew what she was about to do.

"Thanks, D," she spoke feebly. D seemed a bit startled, but she wearily smiled back.

"I should be thanking _you_ , really. Now stay safe, ace." And she warped away.


	4. Puffle Trouble

** PUFFLE TROUBLE **

* * *

Jazz took a deep breath and walked into Headquarters. She wasn't sure what today had in store for her, but she hoped she'd be ready.

"Hey, rookie," she greeted. The green penguin jumped. He had been watching one of the many screens that made up the I.S.E.E.U..

"Oh, hi J! I didn't see you there," he said jovially. "Are you on another mission?"

"Nah, not yet, but I figured I'd come in early just in case I was needed." She pulled up one of the desk chairs and sat next to the rookie. "I heard you got lost in the Wilderness a few days ago, what was _that_ about?"

He scratched the back of his head with a chuckle. "Yeah... I went after one of those snowboarders, but I guess I bought the wrong board because it broke."

"Reminds me of when G wanted me to ride his Prototype Sled down the Test Run. It fell apart while I was using it. Thankfully, I didn't have to wait _too_ long to be rescued..."

"Oh, me neither! The jet pack guy was pretty mad, though. He said I messed up a bunch of survival rules, but I've never even _heard_ of most of the ones he mentioned! They weren't in my Survival Guide, I'm pretty sure..."

"G made _another_ Survival Guide? Dang, I thought I used the only one for my campfire..."

"I guess so. By the way, what did _you_ use for shelter? Because I just had my snowboard and some twigs..."

Jazz raised an eyebrow. "What, you didn't find the cave? That makes for _way_ better protection than some sticks."

"Wait, _you_ did that? Wow, you should've given me the key!" He was in disbelief. "But then again, if I was in a cave, he probably wouldn't have been able to see me..."

" _Key_? What are you talking about? All I did in there was set up a fire." She was utterly bewildered, a look that the rookie returned at her response.

"You mean you _didn't_ make the door?"

"What _door_ , rookie?"

"The door on the cave!"

"Caves don't _have_ doors!"

"I _know_! But that one did, I swear! It was weird!"

Jazz shook her head, and turned to look at the I.S.E.E.U.. "That makes no sense."

"It wasn't the only weird thing out there, either! Apparently Mr. Jet Pack found an empty oil can by-"

"Wait!" She pointed at one of the screens, gesturing with her other flipper for the rookie to stop. "There's something going on at the Night Club."

The scene was hard to make out on the small screen (especially without any sound), but it looked like something had startled everyone in there. The handful of dancers looked around at each other, seemingly checking if everyone was alright. Jazz's eyes strayed to the screen to the left- the Lounge. No one was in there. _Bingo._ She pulled out her Spy Phone.

"I'm going to check it out." She scrolled through the list of options until she reached **LOUNGE**.

"Hold on!" the rookie interjected. "Didn't you get in trouble for that yesterday?"

"No way, I got in trouble for not _telling_ anyone where I was going," she argued, "and you're right here."

He went quiet. He couldn't dispute that. "Good luck, then."

"Thanks," was all she said before she warped in.  
  


Jazz was still dizzy, but she knew the Lounge well enough to run down the stairs to the dance floor without any problem.

"What's going on?" she called out as she reached the bottom. A terrified-looking pink penguin in a flashy disco outfit stared at her with wide eyes.

"You didn't _hear_ that?" he asked incredulously. She shook her head.

"There was a huge crash!" the DJ explained. They looked shaken. "It even scratched my records for me!"

"Everything looks okay down here... Do you think it came from the Boiler Room?"

The dancers murmured amongst themselves, eventually coming to an agreement. That made sense. The Boiler Room was right below the Night Club and it didn't have a feed on the I.S.E.E.U..

"I'm gonna investigate." She waddled over to the fake speaker. "You guys stay here and keep an eye on the Night Club."

Someone grabbed her shoulder. She jumped, turning to face them- it was the DJ.

"No way," they said, "I'm not letting you check that out alone, kid."

She tried to restrain a groan. Bringing civilians in on investigations was never recommended, but... "Fine. Let's investigate, then. _You_ guys wait here."

Jazz opened the 'speaker' and climbed down to the Boiler Room, closely followed by the DJ. A loud hissing filled her ears as she descended. That probably wasn't a good sign.

She got off the ladder and turned around. "What the...?"

"How does a boiler even _go_ missing?!" the DJ exclaimed at the sight.

"I... don't know. But there's gotta be a clue around here somewhere. A boiler can't just get up and walk away..." She started looking around, only to notice that a purple furball had joined them. "Hey, is that your puffle? It probably shouldn't be down here right now..."

"Nah," the DJ replied, "that's just Pop. They must've followed us down. Usually they don't get this involved in anything, though." They scratched the purple puffle's head. "I guess the lil guy's worried."

Jazz shook her head as Pop scampered away and over to the filing cabinet. It had been knocked over in front of the door to the Underground Pool.

"I guess we know what the crash was now..." Jazz inspected the cabinet. Something looked to be underneath it... Her eyes strayed to Pop. They were staring at it. _That's weird._

"Yup. That thing's totally heavy enough to be that loud. Two of the strongest penguins ever wouldn't be able to lift that thing up!" the DJ remarked, tapping their foot nervously. "I wonder what knocked it over, then..."

"Hey, this might sound off-topic, but... do you know who owns Pop?"

They shook their head. "Nope. I've never seen them with anyone."

Jazz looked back to Pop, who had turned to look at her. Their big eyes glinted behind star-shaped sunglasses.

_Man,_ she thought, _I hope I'm right about you..._ and she pointed at the file cabinet. Pop smirked. _Was that a bubble wand?_

It was. In a matter of seconds, a large bubble surrounded the cabinet, and it floated to the ceiling.

" _Woah_ ," was all that could escape her mouth.

"Holy cow," the DJ mumbled. Their jaw was practically on the floor. "How did you _do_ that?!"

"I just thought Pop might be like another puffle I've met, so I treated them like that, and... _yeah_. I'm just as surprised as you are."

"Hey, what's that under there?"

Jazz turned back to the doorway. "It looks like an oil can." She picked it up. It was light. "An _empty_ oil can." Hadn't the rookie mentioned something about one of these?

"Well, I guess we're gonna have to clean up now... So much for the party." The DJ muttered.

"Hey," Jazz chirped, "if you don't mind me asking, what do you plan on doing now?"

" _I_ am gonna chill down here and make sure no one messes with that big bubble."

"Cool. I'm going to see if I can track down the boiler... and _hopefully_ whoever took it." She gulped.

"Good luck. If they knocked over that cabinet, you'll need it."

She walked through the door to the Pool, Pop following after her. Everything seemed normal there, so she continued through the tunnel to the Mine...

And almost crashed _directly_ into D.

"J?!" She jumped back. "What are you _doing_ here?"

"I was just following a trail of clues." Jazz held up her flippers defensively. "Are you looking for the missing boiler, too?"

"Missing _boiler?_ " That answered her question well enough.

"No way," she sputtered, " _more_ things are going missing?"

D nodded with a sigh. "Afraid so, ace."

"Who could have done this?" Jazz wondered aloud.

"I don't know, but I think this is a clue." She picked the deflated inner tube up, putting her magnifying glass back in her pocket.

"Speaking of clues, do you think this empty oil can has anything to do with it?" Jazz handed the can to D. She seemed surprised.

" _Another_ one? How odd..." She took out her Spy Gadget. "I'll go tell the Director about this."

Jazz was about to speak up, when her vision flashed blue and she suddenly wasn't standing in the Mine anymore. D had warped both of them back to HQ.

"Oh my gosh I'm so sorry Ms. D I should have stopped her I tried to warn her-"

"Rookie, she's not-"

"-I know she got in trouble for this yesterday but please don't punish her this time it's my fault and-"

"ROOKIE," Jazz yelled. He shut his mouth. "I'm not in trouble. D just wanted to talk to the Director about our findings."

"Oh."

D nodded, flippers on her hips. "The Aqua Grabber's out of commision and the boiler's missing. Something big is going on here, and I intend to find out what."

"Hey J, who's your buddy?" the rookie asked, not paying attention to D's words.

"Huh? Oh, yeah." She picked up the puffle. They squirmed, before settling in her arms. "This is Pop."

Tentatively, he reached out to pet them. "I didn't know you owned any puffles!"

She was about to correct him, but realized it would be much weirder to explain that this wasn't her puffle. "Yeah, I love these lil guys."

There was an awkward pause. Neither of them knew how to continue.

"So... if you're _not_ in trouble, how did things go at the Night Club?"

"I didn't run into any trouble, but the Boiler Room is in pretty bad condition right now. Something stole the boiler and knocked over one of the cabinets."

"What? But those things are super heavy!"

"Exactly. And the only thing left behind was an empty oil can..."

"... Like what jet pack guy found." The rookie put a flipper to his beak in thought. "So they're connected?"

"I have to assume so. Hold on." Jazz set Pop down on the desk, grabbing a loose sheet of paper and a pen. For once, she was glad the desk under the I.S.E.E.U. was such a mess. She started scribbling. "So the missing boiler and the reckless snowboarders are connected by oil cans... The Aqua-Grabber's broken, D found an inner tube..."

"Don't forget the cabinet!"

"Right, the cabinet's connected to the boiler and the oil can... I'm gonna throw G's disappearance in there, and the stripped minecarts..."  
  


After a few minutes of scribbling and remembering recent events, a thought web had formed on the paper.

The only problem is that the central bubble was blank- almost as blank as their minds as they struggled to figure out _how_ this all fit together.

"Okay, hear me out," started the rookie, "D is totally the Director."

Jazz simply stared. " _Explain_."

"She shows up out of the blue one day, says she doesn't usually work _with_ agents, and acts all in charge... Plus, D's the first letter of Director."

"The Director's signature isn't even a letter, though. It's just the last letter of our code, so I think they'd be a little more subtle than that..." She sighed. "But I'll add it anyways."

A bubble reading **D = Director???** joined the mess, detached from the rest of the web.

"Anything else?" Jazz asked. The rookie shook his head.

"Well, the _actual_ Director asked that you complete your puffle training, but other than that..."

" _Hiiii_ D!" The rookie whipped around and forced a grin. "How long have you been standing there?"

She laughed. "Not the whole time, but probably longer than either of you would be comfortable with."

The two shared an uneasy look.

"Anyways, as I was saying, the Director wants you to continue training with the Elite Puffles, J. Since it looks like Pop has taken to you already, this should be a breeze for you."

"Wait, seriously?!"

D nodded. "You'll have to head for the Beacon, you'll be escorted to your training location from there. PH said this lesson can't be held in the usual spot."

"Why not?"

"You'll find _that_ out when you get there," D chuckled.

"... Who's PH?" the rookie murmured.

"You'll meet her eventually, I'm sure. Now you'd better get going, J. I'd hate to keep him waiting. And don't worry about Pop- I'll take care of them for now."  
  


"Are you ready for our flight to the Tallest Mountain?" a deep voice greeted Jazz as she arrived at the Beacon. Its source was a familiar red penguin in a suit, wraparound sunglasses, and a jet pack. She froze.

"You're, um... you're not still mad at me, right?"

He grimaced as he inhaled sharply. " _Frustrated_ maybe, but no. I'm not mad. You need to work on _not_ getting stranded in the Wilderness, rookie."

"I can't really promise it _won't_ happen again, but I'll try my best?" She forced a smile. The jet pack guy retained his stern expression. Her eyes darted nervously. "So... who's the green puffle?"

"That's Flit," he replied, looking way too serious to be talking about a propeller cap-wearing puffle, "he's one of the Elite Puffles you'll be training with. I enjoy working with him when I can."

Jazz followed Flit with her eyes as he flew around the Beacon with his hat. "May I ask _why?_ "

The jet pack guy cracked a smirk. "Flit here is the only thing I know of that can fly faster than me. It's impressive, really."

" _Cooool_." She was more intimidated than impressed. "I can't wait to start training with him, then..."

"Then grab a jet pack and let's go." He gestured behind him; a spare jet pack rested next to the launch pad. She gulped.

"What if I've never flown before? Hypothetically speaking, of course..."

"Then consider this a lesson. Get over to the launchpad and put on the jet pack," he instructed. She did. "Now ready yourself. I'm going to turn it on."

The jet pack guy did something she couldn't see, and the motor of the jet pack roared to life. Jazz's stomach lurched as she was suddenly lifted off the ground.

"Oh man oh man _oh man_ ," she started murmuring under her breath. She felt a little queasy, staring wide-eyed at the ground as the distance between her and it grew. Having lifted off at the top of the Lighthouse, it was already quite large.

"Stay calm, rookie, panicking won't do you any good." In no time at all, the jet pack guy was in the air with her. "First rule of flying: _don't look down_."

Jazz looked up at his face, trying to slow her breathing.

"That's it, keep steady," he reassured. "You steer by tilting your body where you want to go. Now come on. I'll fly ahead. You see if you can catch up."

He rocketed ahead, leaving Jazz by herself. _Oh boy._ She leaned, and was thrust forward. She yelped. That was _much_ more forceful than she'd expected... She'd have to keep her movements more subtle if she didn't want to be thrown around like a ragdoll.

After some trial and error, tilting herself forward at varying degrees, she found an amount of force she was comfortable with. Soon enough, she caught up with the jet pack guy.

"Not bad," he commented, "looks like you're already getting the hang of this. Be conscious of your fuel, and fly low if you need to. We still have a bit more to go."

Jazz looked up at the mountain, trying her best not to even _slightly_ shift her center of gravity. She ended up doing so anyways, of course, because this was her first time, but she _did_ try. From the view she got before being distracted by her lack of balance, she didn't have much longer to go. Most of the remaining way was up. Once she reoriented herself, the jet pack guy zoomed off once more. She attempted to keep up with him, though she knew it couldn't be done.

"-and _there_ she is. Take good care of her, PH."

"Reckon I will! Have a good flight back."

Jazz only caught the tail end of their conversation as she landed atop the mountain, and, by the looks of it, the jet pack guy was about to blast off again. She took off her jet pack, and set it down in the snow, next to an odd block of ice.

"See you later, Agent!" She waved.

"Good luck, J." And he was gone.

"Wow, he really doesn't stay anywhere long, does he?" Jazz muttered to herself. She was watching his trail of exhaust as it faded away, but a green speck caught her eye. She suddenly realized she hadn't seen Flit come with them.

"Unless you count the air, nah. But we aren't gonna faff around blabbing about that Guy. Let's get to our lesson!" PH chirped. The green speck rapidly grew, and perched on the Puffle Handler's shoulder. He nuzzled her. The yellow puffle at her side gave a jealous look.

"Dang," Jazz marvelled, "the jet pack guy wasn't exaggerating. That puffle _is_ fast."

PH laughed. "Is _that_ what we're calling him now? 'Cause I'm on board with that, mate!"

"Wait, you actually _know_...?" She could feel her face burning. That placeholder could, for lack of a better word, _fly_ with the agents who _also_ didn't know his name, but she'd clearly miscalculated. PH was not one of those agents.

"Don't worry, he doesn't tend to give his name out, and I don't think he'll mind the nickname," she chuckled. "Besides, we have lots of work to do. Let's get started."

"What do we do first?"

"See those balloons over there?" PH pointed across the peak. "Flit can retrieve far away objects in no time flat. Use him to get the 3 gold rings attached to the balloons, then return them to me."

"Piece of cake." Jazz smirked. "I'm on it!"

A bit of pointing and fetching later, she had all three rings, which she gave to PH.

"Not bad! Now it's time for you to work with Chirp." PH gestured to the beret-clad yellow puffle.

"Sweet! What do I need to do now?"

"Chirp's got a..." the Puffle Handler paused, trying to think of the right word, " _unique_ talent. You'll need her help to shatter this ice block."

"Chirp can shatter _solid ice?!_ "

"Yep!" PH seemed proud. "Chirp can make a sound wave so strong it can break some objects. This is one of the few places where she can practice her flute as loud as she wants."

"Ahh," Jazz nodded understandingly, "so _that's_ why we're on the mountaintop."

"Well, that, and I like to yodel, too..." PH laughed, a little sheepish.

"Yodeling, huh?" She... wasn't sure how to respond to that information. "Yes, well, um... Happy yodeling, then."

PH motioned Chirp over to J, before turning around to start yodeling.

_What an... **interesting** yodeling voice_, Jazz thought to herself. She kind of wished she wasn't up here right now, but if it was required for her training, she'd try to ignore PH. She pointed at the ice.

She had no idea a simple flute could be so _loud_. It honestly shocked her. But either way, Chirp's song cracked the ice. It looked like one more quick flute song should-

The sounds of mechanical malfunction snapped her focus away from training. Her eyes darted to the source- her jet pack. She froze up.

"Oh, I forgot to mention..." From her voice alone, she could tell PH was uneasy. "Chirp's sound can disrupt some machines."

Jazz put her flippers to her forehead, letting out a hissing breath. "Scratch one _jet pack_ , then..."

"Don't worry about that. Just focus on your training."

"Okay. I think I've almost got it..." She pointed to the ice block again, and Chirp smashed it with another series of notes.

PH put her arm around J. "See, Chirp can shatter ice without damaging what's inside."

"Assuming it's not a jet pack."

"Mate, if you've got a _jet pack_ in a block of ice, you've got more to worry about than Chirp making it malfunction. Now take a look!"

She obeyed, waddling over. A round box now lay in the snow, freed from the ice, so she opened it. Inside was a hat, not unlike PH's.

"Consider it a reward for your good work so far!" She grinned.

"Um. Cool! Thanks!" The thought was sweet, but Jazz had no idea how to tell her that she would probably never wear this willingly. So she didn't.

"No worries. Now, let's climb down to the Puffle Training Room for your final test." PH moved over to the edge of the peak where the grappling hook hung.

"Wait wait wait, final test?" Jazz held out her arms. "Are there seriously only _four_ Elite Puffles?"

"Of course not, mate, but D told me you got _Pop_ to work with you without any help. You could probably command Bouncer, Blast and Loop in your sleep." And she began climbing down the rope. Jazz gulped, and followed suit.

_Time to take the big test_ , she should have been thinking, but all that was on her mind was that this was not the first time she'd climbed down the Tallest Mountain with two puffles. And one of them was even green!

_I wonder if Flit and Cornelius would get along..._

"Get ready, Ace. This is where your hard work really pays off!" PH proclaimed, flippers on her hips. Jazz _had_ to assume she was referring to the climb, and not the training. "You'll have to use all of the Elite Puffles to unlock the secret in this room. I've got full confidence in you."

"Sounds like it could be tough." Jazz eyed the room. Other than the seven puffles (one of each known type) around the room and large weight on the floor, it looked pretty similar to how it was when she met Flare.

"It _is_ designed to test highly skilled agents, but I'm sure you'll be fine. How long have you been with the agency, again?"

"I've been a part of the PSA for about... three months?"

PH coughed, seemingly choking on her own spit. Given the look on her face, that was somehow the exact _opposite_ of the answer she'd expected. That did not ease Jazz's nerves in the slightest.

" _Three months_ with the _PSA_ , huh? _Hoo boy_." Her eyes darted. "I guess that explains some things, huh... But you're a smart cookie, she'll be right. Go ahead and start."

Jazz took a deep breath. Learning this test was supposedly way above her skill level wasn't a comfort, but hey, if she _passed_ it...

"Uh... PH, can I borrow your whistle? I think I forgot mine at home, sorry."

" _Really_?" PH shook her head, but she removed the whistle and tossed it over. "Just be sure to give it back."

She muttered a quick _thank you_ , before refocusing on the task at hand. That weight probably needed to be moved.

"Pop!" She blew the whistle to get their attention, then pointed to the weight. If it was anything like the cabinet, that should get it done.

The weight floated into the air, and, with a _click_ , panels in the floor opened to reveal a giant snow globe and a piñata dropped from the ceiling. She waddled up to examine the former. There was a chest inside.

_Tink, tink!_ It was definitely made of glass, as a couple knocks proved. She stepped back and covered her ears.

"Chirp!" The puffle was quick to shatter the globe. Jazz reached out to touch the chest, but quickly recoiled. It was colder than an iceberg in a freezer! She paused to think. She clearly needed to thaw it, but if Flare did _his_ thing on it, he might weld it shut...

She grimaced, pointing to the chest. She _had_ to try. " _Flare?_ Try to take it easy..."

Flare opened his mouth, breathing blue flame over the chest. He didn't bother with the welding mask, so Jazz felt comfortable watching... as he made the chest _red hot_.

"Flare! I said to take it easy!"

PH laughed from the sidelines. "He's only got one setting, Ace. Let him live."

"Fine," she groaned, now having to assume this was what she was intended to do. She just needed to cool it down...

She looked over her array of puffles. The four she'd worked with definitely wouldn't help with temperature (other than Flare, she supposed, but he had gotten her into this _hot_ mess), so she had to look to the unknown three. From what she knew about puffles, red ones were adventurous, pink ones athletic, and blue ones loyal...

_Man,_ Jazz thought, _I sure wish there was an ice puffle right about now._ She knew that was a ridiculous thing to hope for, though. She winced as she tried to remember the other three's names. Blast and Loop didn't sound like they could help with this, leaving her with...

"Bouncer?" She pointed at the chest, and a blue puffle in a beanie bounded forward. Apparently she'd guessed correctly, though she'd have no idea _what_ it'd do. She shifted her gaze over to the chest for a split second, and was startled by the sudden _splat!_ of a snowball against the metal. It quickly melted and evaporated, but it had done the job. The chest was no longer burning hot.

"Hey PH, not to sound rude, but... did you seriously train a puffle _just_ to throw snowballs? Can't anyone do that?"  
"It could come in handy! You don't always have the time or ability to throw one yourself," PH defended, "and Bouncer is something of a sharpshooter, if I do say so myself. So _yes_ , I _did_."

"... Alright, that's fair." Jazz returned to the test and approached the chest. She tried to lift the lid, but was met with resistance. Of course, it was locked, and now she had to find a key. Her eyes drifted to the only hiding spot she could think of- the piñata. It was well out of reach, so beating it herself was out of the question. That disappointed her a little, but she was pretty sure that was against the point of the test, anyways. She sounded the whistle.

"Hey, Blast!" Jazz pointed up at the piñata. With a name like that, she had no doubt that was the puffle she wanted here.

_BANG!_ A red blur launched at it, breaking it open in one hit. Among the paper maché, a small box fell to the ground.

" _Dang_ ," she mumbled, "I wish that I had _that_ puffle in the cave..."

Further inspection of the box showed it had a crank. She rolled her eyes. A _jack-in-the-box_. She spun the handle, and a familiar little tune played. Yep, this was a real, completely functional jack-in-the-box. At least PH only learned of her rank _after_ the test was set up, that way she could reassure herself that this was not meant to demean her _specifically_.

_Pop!_ Even though she'd expected it, the jester doll jumping out of the box still startled her. It bounced around erratically on its spring, causing her to back up. She didn't want to get hit in the face by it, as it was practically a blur of colourful cloth and shining metal. She smiled to herself as she got an idea regarding its speed.

"Flit! Your turn!"

The green puffle flew around the toy a bit, trying to stop it with a bite, but had no luck. It was too fast for him. He landed back on the ground next to Jazz.

"Well," she spoke after some stunned silence, "good try, Flit."

She put a flipper to her beak, turning to face the rest of the Elite Puffles.

"Loop? Do you want to give it a shot?" She offered. The pink puffle nodded, hopping forward. Apparently they did. She pointed the creature at the toy... and Loop lassoed it. That wasn't what she'd expected, but she wasn't sure what she _had_ expected. Either way, it worked. The rope was tied tight around the little doll, keeping it from bouncing, and allowing her to safely remove the key from its neck. She'd just slip it into the chest's lock, and bam! Now it opened easily.

A green balloon floated from the chest, floating to the ceiling. A rolled-up piece of paper was tied to the end of its string with a red ribbon, but much like the piñata, it was out of her reach.

"Flit," she smirked, "you know what to do now."

He flew up, grabbing and fetching the paper, and soon enough it was in Jazz's flippers. She slipped the ribbon off and unrolled it.

It was a Puffle Training Certificate. She grinned, holding it to her chest.

"Hey, way to _go_ , Flit!" She suddenly felt six sets of eyes burn into her back. She turned, chuckling nervously. "And the rest of you did great too!"

"Good on ya!" PH gave Jazz a congratulatory slap on the back, suddenly confirming that she was, indeed, _quite_ strong. _Ow._ "The Director will be very pleased with your work."

"Ha," she wheezed, trying to mask that the wind had just been knocked out of her, "I really couldn't have done it without you."

Once Jazz had caught her breath again (though her back still hurt), she tossed the Puffle Handler's whistle back. "Thanks for letting me use it. I think I'm gonna head home now, though."

She slipped the ribbon back around her certificate, and pulled out her Spy Phone. She did not want to trek down the mountain the Dojo lay atop. She'd had more than enough climbing for one day.

"No worries, mate. But I'd suggest grabbing your whistle while you're there. You might be done training, but you'll never know when you need a buddy."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YES i DID realize way too late that "Puffle Trouble" was already the name of an animated short, what of it


	5. Super Secret Gadgets

** SUPER SECRET GADGETS **

* * *

Blitz had always known when his owner had been around other puffles, and this was certainly one of those times. Jazz smiled down at her scowling pet as she closed the door.

"Sorry I cheated on you, Blitz. Work made me deal with a lot of puffles today!" She put her new items on the ground as she bent over to pick him up. "Don't worry, you're still my little firecracker. No Elite _Whatevers_ could ever replace you."

He rolled his eyes as she pecked him on the forehead and continued her drivel. Being the loving pet owner she was, she kept rambling mushily, even as she put her puffle back down and put her stuff away.  
  


"... But you're _my_ baby boy, and I love you so much." Jazz plopped down on the couch with a sigh. It was nice to be able to relax once more. She picked up her book from the table, and opened it to where she left off.

_Beep! Beep! Beep!_

She groaned, slamming the book closed. Maybe she'd _actually_ get to relax later.

"Hello?" she answered, doing her best not to sound annoyed.

"Ah, hello, Agent J!" G's voice came from the other end of the line. "You sound tired. Are you alright?"

"Yeah," she let out an exhausted breath, dropping some of the facade, "I just got back from puffle training. I had to climb, since Chirp _broke_ the jetpack I brought."

"Oh my, I hadn't realized you'd worked up to _Chirp_ already! Not many agents get trusted with her, you know!"

"I'm sure they don't. Now cut to the chase, G: Why did you call me?"

"Right! The Director and I are working on a super secret gadget, and we could use some help to finish it. Are you interested?"

She laughed. "If it doesn't involve throwing me down the Test Run, you can sign me up."

"Excellent! Meet me in my office as soon as possible." And G hung up.

Jazz figured she'd heed PH's advice and bring her whistle, though she doubted she'd need it. She slipped it on and tucked it under her sweater.

"Looks like I've gotta go back to work, sorry Blitz." She patted the puffle's head and walked out the door.

_Knock, knock._

A muffled shout came from the other side of the door, which while hard to make out, she was _pretty_ sure was Gary telling her to enter. She was a little surprised he'd left the door unlocked, but she made her way upstairs anyways.

"It's nice to see you again, G," she greeted once she reached the top. "How have you been feeling?"

Gary turned in his office chair to face her. "So far so good! The bump on my head has been healing nicely, so I've been able to get back to work with no problems."

"Good to hear! Are you starting to remember things again?"

"Sadly, no." He shook his head. "I can remember bits and pieces, but I'm still unsure of why I was in the Mine."

"It's a start, I guess." Jazz sighed. "And this might be a little off-topic, but I figure you'd know. Have there been any leads on the missing boiler?"

"I'm afraid not. I've installed a temporary replacement, but its construction delayed progress of the new super gadget. That's why I've called upon you to assist me!"

"Oh, cool! Go on, then!"

"I would like to introduce you to one of my biggest gadgets yet" -He pulled a tarp away from his desk- "The _Snow Trekker!_ "

"No way! I thought that was just an urban legend!" Jazz gasped. She then took a minute to observe what he'd unveiled. It definitely looked as described, but... "It's... a lot smaller than I expected it to be."

Gary laughed. "No, no, this is only a puffle-sized model. The final prototype will be much, _much_ larger."

"Ohh." Now she just felt silly. "So how can I help, then?"

"I will need you to acquire an Automated Cocoa Bean Distiller for installation purposes, and bring it to the Gadget Room."

"A wh-? _Oh_. I guess I'll look at the Coffee Shop, then."

"An excellent deduction, J!" His smile gave the impression he'd knowingly been messing with her. "I knew that our pairing would become mutually beneficial."

"Thanks G, I thought so too. But I have one more question."

"And that is?"

"Why does the Snow Trekker need a _hot chocolate machine_?"

" _Very_ good question. You'll see when the time lends itself." He had probably winked, but his eyes were not visible behind his glasses.

"Alright. I'll be right back with your cocoa machine, then." And she turned to head off for Town on foot, since it wasn't very far from the Ski Village.

"When did you notice that the java beans were missing?"

"This morning, when the delivery truck showed up with a _big hole in the side_."

"Oh right, you said that before..."

Of all the scenes to walk into, the rookie agent _interrogating_ the barista was probably one of the last she expected. But here she was, watching this unfold.

"Hey, rookie, can I pull you aside for a minute?" Jazz butted in.

"Huh? Oh, hello J!" He waddled over to her. "Sorry to tell you, but someone made off with the java bean bags."

"I'm not here for coffee, but thanks for answering my next question. Guess we'll have to put _that_ on the list of stolen things..." She shook her head. "I wish I could say I'm surprised, but at this point, I'm really not."

"Don't worry about it. I've got this one handled!"

"Um... Okay, rookie. Have you heard from any of the other agents?"

"Not really. Everyone's too busy. There's something fishy going on here..."

"Definitely, but don't give up. I'm sure you'll get to the bottom of this."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence!" He gave her a salute. Now distracted from his interrogation (which seemed to be going nowhere anyways), the rookie started looking around for clues. Given that the back door, where the beans were brought in from, was blocked off, it didn't seem like he would find much, though. Jazz took this as her cue to approach the barista.

"I don't suppose _you're_ about to ask me about the java beans too?" they deadpanned.

"No, no, sorry if my buddy over there bothered you. I'm here to get a hot chocolate machine, actually?"

The barista jolted out of their obvious annoyance. "Oh, _you're_ the one who-? Sorry. I just pulled one out of storage, so you can take it." They gestured over to the corner, where a large, roughly hot chocolate machine-sized box sat.

"Thanks! I hope your day improves from here." She began to move towards it.

"Hey, wait..." The barista stopped her. "Weren't you the lady who wanted to give Flare a postcard? How did that go?"

"Uh... yeah, I am! Kinda surprised you remembered me." Jazz scratched the back of her head and smiled weakly. "He loved it, though. He's really lucky to have friends like you."

That seemed to put a legitimate smile on the barista's face. They still looked tired, but it was hard to be _completely_ mad knowing you'd made a puffle happy. Jazz smiled to herself, grabbed the box, and walked out, heading back to the Ski Village. Getting into HQ while holding this thing sounded more difficult than it was worth, though. She'd just stop in front of the Sport Shop, tuck out of view behind that stack of inner tubes, and-

_Where are the tubes._ Her eyes darted around the Ski Village. Those things had been in front of the store for longer than she could remember. There was even a dent in the snow where they should've been! Did they finally _sell_ , or-? _Wait. Wait. **Riiight**._ She remembered now- D had found a deflated green inner tube in the Mine. The other two must have also been 'misplaced' like that _._

But she could worry about that later. She had a hot chocolate machine to deliver. Jazz slid behind the Sport Shop, wrestled out her Spy Phone, and warped into HQ. The door to the Gadget Room opened as she approached, the two panels it was made of retracting. The fact it was unlocked made sense- Gary had requested her, and the other agents were busy- but the worry it wouldn't be had crossed her mind anyways. Regardless, that was soon forgotten as she saw the Snow Trekker. The _real_ one, a big, yellow, bulldozer-like vehicle, which looked perfect for snow travel. Seeing it for real was a surreal but exciting experience. She just had to take the time to take it in...

"Oh, Jasmin! You're back just in time! It's time to put the finishing touches on the Snow Trekker." Gary looked over his shoulder. Jazz's stunned gaze was broken, and she rushed up to him.

"G, this is _AWESOME!_ " she exclaimed. "Oh my gosh, oh my _gosh_..."

He chuckled to himself. "Yes, the Snow Trekker is quite the machine- or rather, it _will_ be. I need you to attach the last remaining parts as I calibrate the internal computer."

"Alright, how do I get started, then?" Jazz put the box on the ground next to the vehicle, eager to help.

"Start by putting in the hot cocoa maker. I'll hand you the rest of the pieces as you go."

"Got it!"  
  


It took some time and effort, but the Snow Trekker was finished. Jazz had struggled to figure out how to get the hot chocolate machine in, but she -with some assistance from G- eventually managed to get it attached. The other parts were much easier, most likely because they were made for the machine. Gary stepped back to admire their (mostly his, really) work, where Jazz joined him.

"Well done, Jasmin! After many years of development, this new edition of the Snow Trekker is ready for its first field test."

Her satisfied smile faded slightly as she realized the Snow Trekker was _inside_ the Gadget Room. "Where are you gonna take it?"

" _Me?_ " he gave her an incredulous laugh. "Oh _heavens_ , no. I am not the best test pilot. You shall be testing this super gadget."

" _ME?!_ " she screeched in shock. "You're kidding, right?"

"I don't see why I would be." G cocked an eyebrow. "But if you don't want to, I'm sure I can find another agent to-"

"No, no, it's not like that. It'd be an honour to be the first one to test this, but..." She winced. She didn't want to bring up the sled incident _now_. "You're sure you want _me_ to do this?"

He smiled. "Of course I do."

Gary reached a flipper into one of his coat's pockets and gently tossed something to J. She fumbled it a bit, but once it was steady in her grip her eyes lit up. They were keys.

"I recommend driving it deep into the Wilderness." -Jazz opened her mouth to protest, but he continued- "That way I can monitor the effect of the rougher terrain and distance."

"So how am I supposed to get it out there?"

"Hop in, and I'll have you warped just past the Forest."

So she did. While she couldn't see it from her position in the Snow Trekker, Gary must've done something, because for the next few seconds, all she could see was blue.

It was only once she was out there in the Forest that she realized she _maybe_ should've asked G how to work this thing.

Jazz slid the key into the ignition, and the motor hummed to life. Okay, that was obviously the first step. Now to figure out the _next_ one. She looked over the dashboard. Next to the steering wheel, there were three buttons, all featuring images of slightly different Trekkers. The one depicting its current state was lit up, so she decided to leave those be. Maybe the pedals, then? She'd just try pushing down on one of them, and _tHE SNOW TREKKER ZOOMED FORWARD OH GOSH-_

She let out a yelp and scrambled for the steering wheel. Crashing was _NOT_ an option. If the stories about the Snow Trekker were true, she _REFUSED_ to be the _SECOND_ penguin to drive it off the island.  
  


After a while, Jazz had managed to stop the Snow Trekker somewhere in the Wilderness, though she had no idea how far out she was. The ride had been an absolute blur of adrenaline. She stumbled out of the vehicle, panting as she tried to calm herself down from the rush.

That was _awesome_. She began to laugh, not sure how else to handle the aftermath of the thrill. The other agents were going to go absolutely _donuts_ for the Snow Trekker, she knew it. And she was the first one to test it! _Sweet!_

Her glee was cut short once she noticed something... _off_ in the snow. They were some kind of prints, but she couldn't quite place them, mostly because they were hard to make out. Jazz looked up from the ground, scanning her surroundings. Was someone else already there? She couldn't tell, but the tracks, faint as they were, definitely led inside a nearby cave. Her sense of dread intensified. Someone might be lost or _stranded_ out here. She fumbled for her Spy Phone, praying she was still in range.

"Hello, G? Can you read me?"

"Yes, you're coming in fine!" His voice was a little staticky, but it was clear enough to understand. "I've gathered large amounts of data from your test run. I'm afraid it will still take a few minutes to save it all. I think I might need to use a bigger drive to store all of the data we-"

"Yeah, no problem and all that," she interrupted, "but there's something _weird_ out here. There are these prints in the snow, and they don't really look penguin _or_ puffle."

"Agent, there simply _aren't_ any other creatures on this island- not unless you count crabs and the like, but I find it highly unlikely that _any_ crab would be that far from the shore..."

"They look sort of like... _snowboard_ tracks?" She squinted at the ground. Yeah, that's definitely what they reminded her of. "Stay on the line, I'm gonna follow them."

The cave was small and cold. Snow had been dragged along the ground in a way similar to the tracks.

"Can you still hear me fine?" Jazz shivered, examining her surroundings in the dim light. She twiddled with the Snow Trekker's keys, now wishing she'd at least brought a flashlight.

"You're cutti...out a little. Where ar....ou?"

"I just entered a cave. The tracks led in here and- what the...?"

"What is it, Ag...t?" G's worry was palpable, even if he wasn't completely audible.

"There's... a stash of snowboarding warning signs? Looks like they were dragged in here through the snow. I guess that explains the weird tracks." She approached the strange collection. Another shudder ran through her body as she realized what was laying next to it. "There's another one of those empty oil cans here, too."

"Make sure....bring it back to HQ!"

" _Waaay_ ahead of you." She slipped the keys away and grabbed it. "There's no one in here, though, so I'm going back outside."

A dark figure rushed in front of the cave's mouth. Jazz felt the blood drain from her face.

"Hello? Is someone out there?" she called, trying her best not to sound scared.

**_THUD!_ **The cave went dark. She screamed.

" _JAS_.... _N!_ Are y....okay?! What is goi....on out th...e?"

"I-I can't see anything! Something blocked the entrance of the cave!"

".. _re you okay?_ " His voice was more demanding now- less like he was asking a question, more like he _needed_ to hear a 'yes'.

"I... guess so, yeah. I'm uninjured. I'm just trapped."

It sounded a little like Gary had sighed in relief, but that might've just been more interference. "D..you think you ca.....out witho...ssista..ce?"

"I don't know, let me check..." She cautiously approached what had been the only exit of the cave, blindly grasping in front of her with her (relatively) free flipper. She was met with solid rock. "I think a boulder is blocking it? So no. Probably not."

"Sta..still. I'm...ing to warp you.....to HQ. The Snow Tr....er can b......ieved later."

She would've argued that wasn't a great idea, considering their faltering signal, but her vision flickered to blue too fast for her to do so.

It was safe to say _that_ was the longest a warp had ever taken her. Her vision occasionally flashed back into something other than that nothingness, but those felt eternities apart. Teleporting already felt bad, like standing up too quickly with an extra dash of queasy, but this feeling of non-existence was worse. No one was meant to experience _this_.  
  


She wasn't sure how long she'd been stuck like that, but now she sat in the middle of HQ. Her vision was blurred and her head was swimming. She dropped the oil can, while her other flipper was barely keeping hold on her Spy Phone, mostly just grasping at her head.

"Jasmin!" Gary ran in from the Gadget Room. "Are you feeling alright? That shouldn't have-"

_Hurk!_ She threw up in the wastebasket. That seemed to answer his question.

"Never do that again," Jazz grumbled.

"How are you feeling? Are you experiencing any side effects other than the nausea?"

She stared up at him, dead-eyed. " _Bad_."

"... Noted. Hopefully this will be the only time this happens. I suggest you lie down for a while, and then we can retrieve the Snow Trekker."

Jazz nodded weakly. "Okay..."

"Come on, then." Gary helped her to her feet. "You can rest on the couch in my office until this passes."

She couldn't remember when or how, but she must've fallen asleep, as she had just awoken. The side of her face was sore from her glasses pressing into it, and she was still a little groggy, but it seemed the ill effects of that warp had faded. Jazz sat up on the couch and rubbed her eyes, before shooting a glance at the window. The sun was getting low in the sky. She figured she should probably get moving- leaving the Snow Trekker out there overnight with some sign thief probably wasn't the best idea, even if she _did_ have the keys...

She hopped off the couch and decided to check into HQ. G questioned her rapid-fire about the symptoms she might have felt, which she did her best to answer all of. He scribbled down all of this as she did.

"... And you're _sure_ you're feeling well enough to retrieve the Snow Trekker yourself?"

"Yeah, I'm sure I'll be fine."

Gary gave her a dubious look before continuing. "Alright. My readings indicated a security breach happened shortly after the cave was blocked, so don't be startled if you see cocoa spilled everywhere."

"Wait, what?"

"I designed the Sticky Cocoa Security System so that one could follow the trail of the tinkerer. If you're so inclined, you could go after them, but bringing the Snow Trekker back is your priority."

"Sounds like a _sweet_ trail to follow," she chuckled. "Where do you want me to bring it?"

"Indeed! And parking it behind the Mine Shack should suffice."

"Cool, I'm on it." She turned to leave.

"Hold on!" He stopped her, pulling out his Spy Gadget. "You're running on limited daylight, and it will take far too much time to go on foot. The signal should be fine outside of the cave, so I'll warp you there."

"Woah, woah, _woah_ , no _way_ , G! I am _not_ warping again to-"

"-day." Too late. She was already there. She groaned, holding at her head.

The scene was a mess. Hot cocoa had been sprayed everywhere, leaving brown stains in the snow. Thankfully, though, it was undamaged. Anyone who was around the vehicle when this happened was probably _drenched_ in the sticky and now-frozen cocoa mix, much like the Snow Trekker itself was. Jazz tried her best not to touch the mess as she climbed in and put the key in the ignition. She sighed in relief as the motor started running. Whoever had tampered with the Snow Trekker hadn't wrecked it. Time to find out where that trail led.

_Heck yeah._ She pressed down on the gas with a smirk.  
  


She kept the vehicle going at a more controllable, slightly slower speed than the one she had used to get it out there. That way, she could actually _follow_ the cocoa-covered tracks... to the Mine? She parked behind the Mine Shack and hopped out. Might as well follow on foot from here. It'd probably be safer, anyways.

"Well howdy there, pardner!" A familiar voice greeted as she went out front. "Didn't expect to see _you_ out here at this time o' day. Glad yer fine, a coupla fancy penguins asked me where you were after you went down t' the old tunnels, and I started worryin' when they couldn't find you."

Jazz forced a smile. "Yyyeah, I _really_ shouldn't have been down there. I got out fine, though. Thanks for the help with the cart, too."

"Say," the miner added, "I think I know a way you can return the favour. I need some help with a doozie of a mess."

"Does this mess involve chocolate?" Her eyes lit up.

"It right could be." The miner shrugged. "Either way, someone's done dug up our mine while I wasn't lookin'." He gestured behind him. The snow around the mine was in complete disarray.

She waddled up to the largest pile to inspect it. It was soaked in a familiar gooey brown, more so than the surrounding snow. "Yep, that's chocolate alright. Just like the trail I've been following... Looks like whoever left that trail dug up this snow in a hurry."

"Well, they _also_ ran off with my favourite shovel."

"A lot of things have been getting stolen lately, there _has_ to be a reason... Have you seen anything out of the ordinary, by any chance?"

"Well, there's that fancy wagon you got back there, but other than that... depends what you mean by ordinary."

"Noted." Jazz nodded and looked around, but it looked like the choco-trail only lasted long enough to lead here. She sighed. "I'll help clean up this pile, but I don't know anything about getting hot chocolate out of snow." She gave the snow heap a kick, hoping to disperse it without getting hot cocoa stuck in her feathers.

_Clang!_ She squeaked in pain. It was clearly not _all_ snow.

Hesitantly, she rolled up her sleeves and threw the loose end of her scarf over her shoulder. It looked like she'd have to get her flippers dirty if she wanted to get rid of this pile. _Great._ Thankfully for her, though, the snow was more icy than sticky at this point, mostly sparing her feathers from the treatment the tamperer had gotten. Under the snow was some sort of machine, large and complicated-looking. She made a mental note to tell G about this.

"What do we have here?" The miner took a good look at the mysterious gadget. "Looks mighty strange to me... Do you know what it is?"

"No clue... But I know someone who might." Jazz propped it up on the side most likely intended to be its bottom. It had backpack-like straps on the side it had been laying on, and a small satellite dish on top.

"Where're you takin' that thingy?"

"I'm going to show it to a friend of mine. He knows a lot about gadgets like this one."

"Well, he sounds like a really smart feller, then."

She smiled to herself. "He _is_."

Jazz strapped the machine onto her back, figuring that would be the easiest way to transport it. Now she just had to walk back to HQ with _this_ big thing on her back. _Oh boy._  
  


"My, Jasmin, you've been gone longer than expected." G quipped as Jazz entered the Gadget Room. "Did you find the culprit?"

"Nah," she panted, "the trail ran out around the Mine. But I found something I wanted to show you."

She slumped the machine off her shoulders with a small _crash!_ Gary waddled over to take a better look at it.

"A strange device... Yet somehow familiar..." He ran a flipper along the top of the machine. "Oh my! This... this is my Robo-Locator!"

"A _WHO_ -Locator?!"

"I made this for locating..." He paused, struggling to think. "Oh, _what_ was it...? Right! I made this so I could find robots!"

Jazz decided against commenting on how the name made that obvious. That would just be rude. "What robots would you need to locate?"

"Hold on a minute, I" -he held at his head- " _think_ I'm remembering something. No, wait..." He grinned.

"I just remembered _EVERYTHING!_ " Gary rushed over to the chalkboard, starting to scribble _something_ down.

Jazz tried to peer over his shoulder to see what he was drawing. "Does this chalkboard have something to do with the 'EVERYTHING' you were talking about?"

"This is going to be a trifle bit difficult to explain. Pictures will help!"

"True," she nodded, "it _is_ hard to explain ' _EVERYTHING_ ', I guess..."

Gary backed away from the chalkboard, revealing a drawing of himself working on two penguin-like robots. "It all started when I designed a series of robots to serve as test pilots for my more... _risky_ inventions."

He erased it, and drew another picture- this time of these robots doing various activities. A third one, which Jazz recognized as having once sat in the corner of the Gadget Room, had joined them.

"Strong and durable, the robots were programmed to survey their environment and adapt, but they became obsessed with overcoming challenges!"

Rinse and repeat. A doodle of Gary pressing a button on a remote was now on the board. He looked stressed in the picture. "I tried to turn them off, but they were quick for me to catch..."

"So, I made the Robo-Locator." The Gary Doodle now wore the machine on his back. The real Gary erased the drawing, replacing it with one of him falling out of a minecart. "Unfortunately, I am not _terribly_ good at cart surfing..."

He turned away from the chalkboard. "I was chasing them down a dark, abandoned tunnel when I ran into something and bumped my head."

" _Unbelievable!_ " She couldn't believe her ears. "We need to tell the Director right away!"

"Indeed." He pulled out his Spy Phone and pressed a few buttons on its face. A ringing tone sounded from it. "You _technically_ aren't allowed to meet with them yet, but I think it would be best for you to speak to them directly... so to speak. I, admittedly, don't know all the details of your investigation."

" **Let me see if I understand this correctly,"** the Director's distorted voice spoke, **"all of the trouble we're having in Club Penguin is caused by three robots run amok."**

"Yes, Director." Jazz nodded, but she was pretty sure they couldn't tell over speakerphone. "All the clues match up!"

**"Do you have any indication of what the robots' motives may _be?_ "**

"I believe that they're trying to make harder test tracks for themselves to use," Gary answered.

**"Have you uncovered a way to deactivate these test robots?"**

"I'm working on it, but it will take some time to complete."

The Director made what likely would have been a humming noise if not for whatever was disguising their voice. **"Finding a way to stop the robots is our main priority. Agent G, return to work immediately."**

"Understood." Gary hung up and looked to Jazz. "I suggest you rest up. You've had quite a busy day, and given how eventful this week has been..."

She sighed with a nod. "Wonder what'll happen _tomorrow_... See you then, G. Good luck with that gadget."


	6. Damage Control

** DAMAGE CONTROL **

* * *

Of course, there was no need to call Jazz in to work the next day. It was likely she was needed, but even if she wasn't, she wanted to check in.

G sat in front of the I.S.E.E.U., absentmindedly sipping a cup of coffee. With how empty the PSA Headquarters were, it seemed that all the other agents had already been briefed. She cautiously approached him and sat down in the other chair.

"Hey, G. You feeling alright?"

"It's just upsetting, Jasmin," he sighed. "I feel _awful_ for all the trouble my Test Robots have caused."

Jazz nodded sympathetically. She wished she could say this wasn't his fault, but he _had_ built and programmed them. That wouldn't help any to say...

"We'll make it right again," she consoled. "Don't worry."

"I hope so." A weak smile found its way onto his face. "I am fortunate to work with so many agents that strive to keep Club Penguin safe..."

"That's the spirit! The sooner we have that deactivating gadget, the sooner things will be back to normal!"

"Right you are." Gary got up from his chair. "Are you ready to get back to work, Agent?"

She followed suit, smiling. "No doubt about it."

"Excellent. Your first order of business is to touch base with the other agents in the field with your Spy Phone."

"On it." Jazz took out her phone and scrolled through the list of online agents, before looking back up at G. He was unlocking the Gadget Room. "Is the robot deactivating gadget ready yet?"

"Not yet." He stood back up straight as the door opened. He gave a nervous chuckle. "The problem with microchips is that they are, well, _micro_. I believe I managed to lose one...

"Oh. Okay." She didn't know how to react to that. "Well... I'm sure you'll find it. Good luck, and let me know when it's ready!"

"Yes, I shall. Much appreciated." And he walked in, the door closing behind him. Now to check in on her fellow agents...

"Rookie, report in."

"Huh? Oh, Agent J! I'm glad you called, I've _kinda_ run into a problem out here..." He sounded nervous. Jazz would be lying if she said this wasn't at least _partially_ what she expected to hear.

"Where are you?" Even so, that didn't mean she _didn't_ want to help him out. "What's going on?"

"I'm at the Plaza. You won't believe what happened! Get here quick! Please!"

"I'm on my way, don't worry! J, over and out."  
  


A quick warp was all it would take to check on the rookie, then she could go help the others and... The Stage's ticket booth was gone.

The rookie was right. She really _didn't_ believe it.

Speaking of the rookie, he was currently pacing back and forth in front of the Stage, muttering to himself. A bunch of scraps and tools laid on the ground between them.

"Yeesh, the Plaza is a _wreck_!" Jazz exclaimed.

"Agent J!" The rookie ran up to her. "I'm so glad you're here, I've got such a mess on my hands..."

"What the heck _happened_ here?"

"One of those robots came and ripped the ticket booth out of the Stage!"

"Wait, did you actually _see_ it? Because if so, that's a pretty big deal..."

"Well," the rookie shifted uncomfortably, "I only caught a glimpse of it because it was moving so fast. Like, crazy snowboarder fast! That's gotta be how it moves so quickly! A _snowboard_!"

Jazz let out a tense breath, taking a good look at where the booth once stood. "I guess so, yeah. But dang, look at that _hole_..."

"I _know_ , I'm trying to fix it, but I can't put it together. I could really use your help!"

"Don't worry," she rolled up her sleeves. "I'm sure we can make a good replacement in no time."

"Thanks, J."  
  


They got to work on their makeshift ticket booth. It wasn't very polished-looking, but it was certainly better than just leaving a gaping hole in the Stage.

"Alright, time for the final piece!" The rookie held a sheet of metal over the final gap in the booth. After a moment, he looked up at her expectantly. "Go on, hammer it in!"

"... There's no way the nails are gonna go through that." He looked confused, so Jazz clarified. "That's a pretty solid chunk of metal. Even if they could, it'd be too heavy for them to hold."

The rookie looked back at the metal, a little embarrassed. "Well, can't we use something else, then? Glue? Tape? Jackhammer?"

"That last one might work, but we don't have a jackhammer..." She tapped her chin in thought. "Wait! I've got an idea!" She reached down her sweater and pulled out her Puffle Whistle.

_Squeaaak!_

"Wow," said the rookie, "that's a pretty loud whistle. Don't know how that's gonna help us, though."

"Just wait, you'll see! Well..." She paused. "It might be a bad idea to look at the help while it's happening, actually."

"Um... Okay?"

Soon enough, a black puffle scampered into the Plaza. She was relieved that she'd called the right one.

"Hey, Flare." She crouched down to scritch the side of his face. "Wanna help us with our ticket booth?"

Flare hopped over to the rookie and gave their work a good look-over. Jazz had never felt so strongly judged by a _puffle_ before.

"Rookie, you should probably look away now. Flare's work can be a bit... _bright_." she warned. With a blue flash of flame (that neither actually saw), the piece was attached.

"Ohh, _welding_... Good call!" He backed up to appreciate their ticket booth. "Thanks for helping me! Now I can try to look for the actual ticket booth."

"No problem!" She dusted off her flippers. "Did you find any clues?"

"Just a piece of paper." The rookie shrugged. "It was kinda smudged from being in the snow, though."

That piqued her interest. "Can I see it?"

"Yeah, I left it where I found it." He pointed over at the path to the Snow Forts, where a blue sheet of paper sat.

"Well, good luck with your search." Jazz waved goodbye, and walked over to examine it. The rips on one side reminded her of a page torn from a book, despite the fact it was clearly a blueprint. She squinted, trying to make sense of the smudged white ink. It wasn't _completely_ indiscernible, with a clear rectangular shape and a few gears visible, but she couldn't figure out _what_ it was, herself. She carefully folded it up, making a mental note to show it to G.

Now she just had to check in on the other agents. Jazz absentmindedly walked towards the Snow Forts as she called the next agent listed as **ONLINE**.

"D! How is your mission going?"

"Hey ace, _perfect_ timing! I need your help over here right away!"

"Where are you now?" She couldn't help but be excited at the thought of D needing her. Though, given the circumstances, she probably should've been a _little_ more nervous.

"I'm at the Night Club. One of these robots made a big mess."

"I'll be right there! Over and out!" She put away her phone and broke into a sprint towards the Town. The sooner she could get there, the better.  
  


"It's terrible, isn't it?" D exclaimed as Jazz entered. That was not the kind of greeting she had expected.

"It sure is... _What_ happened, exactly?" someone else responded. Jazz stopped in the doorway before she could even process the mess. _Oh._ That wasn't directed at her, apparently, but at the man standing against one of the walls. She quickly recognized him as Rory, with his orange feathers, construction gear, and friendly face. If he wasn't too focused on the conversation to notice her, she would've waved at him. 

"A robot on wheels drove in and stole a pair of our Night Club speakers," D explained. Given the robot-shaped hole in the wall, it wasn't as though she _could_ have lied about it, even if she wanted to.

"What are these robots doing? Having a robot party?" He shook his head.

"Whatever it is, they're making a mess. Now, can you fix the hole?"

"I'll have to measure the damage and find the right parts, but I'm sure it won't be a problem."

"That's good news," D sighed. "Oh, ace! Glad to see you."

"Uh... same here." Jazz gave a halfhearted smile. "I'd ask what happened here, but that seems redundant."

Even if Rory _hadn't_ just asked her questions for her, the scene before her answered almost as well as D did. Snowy tire tracks covered the floor, starting from and ending at the robot-shaped hole in the wall. Some of the speakers were knocked over, but two were undoubtedly missing.

D chuckled. "Again, you have perfect timing. I have something to show you, though, which is why you're here."

"A clue already? You're the best, D!"

"Ha, you're too kind. Follow me and I'll show you." She walked further into the room, over to the turntables. Another blue sheet of paper was on the ground.

Jazz picked it up. It was definitely a blueprint, but some of the lines were erased. "Any idea how this got here?"

"I think the Wheel-Bot dropped it when it stole the speakers, but I can't imagine why a robot would be carrying that to begin with."

"It kind of looks like an arm," Jazz observed, "maybe it was trying to upgrade itself?"

"Your guess is as good as mine."

"Say, I'm curious... Did you actually _see_ the robot? Rookie only got a glimpse of the one that took the ticket booth, but there was another blueprint there."

"I can't say I got a much better look. There was too much confusion." D put her flippers on her hips and shook her head "These robots are really disturbing the peace on the island..."

"I'll say." Jazz tapped her beak. "Do you have any idea why it would steal the speakers?"

"Speakers are used to amplify sound, so I'd guess these robots want to be heard."

"But what would they have to _say_...?" she murmured. She tucked away the paper with the last one.

" _That's_ the big question, isn't it?" She hadn't expected D to answer. "But there's not much else to go off here. This is mainly a cleanup job, so you should probably check on the others."

"Wait, shouldn't I stay to help?"

"No, Rory's got this one covered. I'm sure he appreciates the thought, though."

"Oh. Okay." That wasn't quite what she expected to be told. "Well, I'll see you back at HQ, then."

She walked out into the Town and dialed the last agent on the list.

"J here. What's your situation?"

"Agent J, good to see you're online," the jet pack guy remarked. Jazz forced out a laugh. "Meet me at the Ice Fishing pond. We should talk about this in person. Over and out."

And with that, he hung up. Jazz got the dreadful feeling she was in trouble, though she _knew_ she hadn't done anything wrong this time. Either way, she was now headed for the Ski Village.  
  


"Hey," she said shyly as she walked out the Ski Lodge's back door. "Why did you need me to come out here?"

"This is best to talk about face-to-face," the jet pack guy answered bluntly. "We don't need any civilians wondering what you're talking about, anyways."

"Alright..." That relaxed her a little. "So what happened?"

"A flying robot stole the telescope from the Beacon. When I was chasing it through the skies, I saw it drop something down onto the pond. And wouldn't you know, it fell right in that fishing hole."

"Talk about a lucky shot... Why in the world would a robot want a _telescope_ , though?"

"I don't know, but I believe that booklet _would_ have been a clue." He pointed behind him, where it hung open on a tree branch, absolutely dripping. "I managed to fish it out of the water, but it's still pretty waterlogged."

" _Phew_ ," she sighed in relief, "I thought for a second you were gonna make me fish it out..."

"Of course not. Maybe you'll have a better shot at figuring out what it is, though."

Jazz waddled over to take a closer look and opened the booklet. Yet _another_ blueprint. This time, the ink was completely washed off in places. What was still there was a bit too smudged for her to make out. Was that a _head_ , or...? She grimaced.

"It's definitely another blueprint, but... I have no idea what it is. Sorry."

"Hold on. _'Another'_ blueprint?"

"Yeah, the other robots dropped them too." Jazz pulled the other two blueprints out for the jet pack guy to inspect. "They aren't in very good shape either, though. I'm going to show them to G, hopefully he'll know what to make of them."

"Good call." The jet pack guy stepped onto the snow and straightened his posture. "I'm going to take off and look for that telescope thieving Jet-Bot again."

"Wait!" she interjected. "Did you see which way it flew off?"

"Looked from here like it was headed toward the Wilderness."

"Well, have a safe flight, then." She paused, before adding, " _please_ call if you get into a pinch."

The jet pack guy scoffed, almost amused by the implication he _wouldn't_. "You bet."

His jet pack's engine roared to life, and before she knew it, he was gone. That was her cue to leave, too- this time, for HQ. She had to hear from Gary about this.

"Hey, G," she called as she entered the Gadget Room. "I'm done checking in on the other agents. It's kind of a mess out there..."

"Oh?" He turned from his work, a concerned look on his face. "Would you care to elaborate?"

Jazz took a deep breath. "The Test Robots made a complete wreck of the Stage and stole the ticket booth, one of them smashed through the Night Club wall and stole _speakers_ , of all things, and one of them stole the telescope from the Beacon! Can you explain _any_ of that?"

"Oh my. That _is_ a mess." Gary stopped to think over this information. "As for an explanation... Telescopes have lenses and dials, not to mention a sturdy casing, all of which are good parts for a larger creation... Speakers are audio transmitters, so they might be attempting to communicate somehow, to give a voice to something... And the ticket booth... Well, it will affect ticket sales, that's for sure."

"I helped the rookie with a quick fix for the ticket booth, so you shouldn't worry too much about that part, at least." She let out a sigh. "But no answer for what the Test Robots would want with the real deal, huh?"

"I'm afraid not." He shook his head. "Did you find any clues, Agent? That might help us unravel this mystery."

"Oh, yeah!" She pulled out the papers, handing them to Gary. "They're all in rough condition, but there were these blueprints at all of the scenes!"

"Jasmin!" he gasped. "This is wonderful! These are from my lost invention notebook!"

"That's great news! Well, aside from the damage..."

"Yes, yes, I had my notebook with me when I went to the Mine…"

"That means the robots would have carried it from the Mine to the Plaza, the Night Club, and the Ice Fishing pond..."

"Precisely... Sort of." He shuffled through to the next blueprint. "Hm, this one looks like the design for a mechanical arm."

"What do you think the arm might be used for?" Jazz tried to not sound excited that she'd gotten that right.

"Well, the design was to make it large and powerful..."

"So nothing good, if the Test Robots had it. Do you think they could be..." -she gulped at the thought- " _building_ something?"

"That would appear to be the case... I'm very concerned. These plans could be _disastrous_ in the wrong hands." Gary started pacing around the Gadget Room.

"This level of destruction makes little sense to me, Jasmin," he confessed.

"Yeah, these robots are wrecking everything in Club Penguin! Do you have any idea why   
they might be doing this?"

G shook his head. "Robots are computers, and computers are what I like to call the three Ps: Programmed, Predictable, and, therefore, _Powerless_. But all this trouble might prove..." His words trailed off. His pace slowed to a halt.

"Prove _what_?"

"All this trouble might prove me wrong."

There was a pregnant silence as those words sunk in, with all the dread they implied.

"At least we found those pages from your notebook," she said after much hesitation, "so now we have _some_ idea of what they're up to."

"Yes, of course. I can only hope we aren't too late..."

"We _can't_ be too late." Jazz's lack of confidence was overpowered by her desperation. "I'll find the Test Robots and- and I'll shut them down for good!"

"Shut them down...!" G echoed and ran back to his work desk. "That reminds me! I have finished the deactivating gadget!"

"Oh! Great timing."

He handed her the device, and walked over to the chalkboard, ready to explain with a bit of visual aid. It was a floppy disk-looking thing, with a long USB cord attached to the top: a strange mix of ancient and modern.

"The Robotomy tool is easy to use- simply plug it into the robot's hard drive," Gary explained, showing off a drawing of just this happening. "For the Test Robots, it can be accessed through their chest cavities."

"I'm going to ignore that name, because, _gee_ , you didn't make this an easy task, did you? Three super-fast, super-strong robots, and I have to get into their _bellies_. That's going to be a tall order..."

"In my defense, I never expected them to go rogue like this." He erased the drawing and started a new one. "You'll need to disable the robots first. Thankfully for all of us, each one has weak points that the Elite Puffles should be able to help you hit."

The new drawing was of the Wheel-Bot and a blue puffle. The former's head was circled, which Jazz made a quick mental note of before he erased it. The robot was now shown floating in a bubble.

"When you're all done deactivating the robot, wrap it up in a bubble and return it to me."

"You're _sure_ you want them back?"

"Of course! If nothing else, their parts can be salvaged."

She nodded. That made enough sense. "I can't wait to try it, then." Jazz offered a smile.

"I'm glad you're eager, then." He turned his back to her and wiped down the chalkboard.

_Beep! Beep! Beep!_

G picked up his Spy Phone. "Hello? What is it, Agent?"

"... Oh my," he muttered after a pause, before regaining some of his composure. "Agent J has my deactivating gadget. I'll send her over. Your orders are to keep any penguins in the area out of danger and watch the store for robot activity. Barricade it in there if you must."

"What is it, G?"

He slipped his phone back into his pocket. "One of the Test Robots is in the Gift Shop, and it should be cornered in there shortly. I hope you're ready, Agent. Good luck."

"I'll be right out there. Thank you, G."  
  


_G's Test Robots are on a rampage,_ she mused to herself as she headed for the Town _, and it's **my** duty as a PSA agent to stop them._

Jazz couldn't help but laugh to herself at the thought. _I am so screwed._


	7. Robotomy 101

** ROBOTOMY 101**

* * *

Jazz squeezed through the small crowd that had gathered in the Town, making her way to the opening in the middle. Judging by the faces she recognized, it looked to mostly be comprised of fellow agents.

"Thank goodness you're here, ace!" D exclaimed. "We barricaded the door to keep the robot inside. It was just too fast for us to handle otherwise."

"Alright. Do you know what it's doing in there?"

"No, but we've surrounded the store and are watching all the exits."

"That robot's not going anywhere without one of us noticing," the jet pack guy reaffirmed.

"I can't stand it!" one of the few non-agents there cried out. "How long is that thing going to stay inside our Gift Shop?"

"You're the owner, right?" Jazz asked. The penguin in the red suede jacket nodded. "Was there anyone else in the store when the robot came in?"

"Luckily, no." He played uneasily with the ends of his yellow scarf. "I was the only one inside when it barged in."

"That's good..." She nodded to herself. "Don't worry then, things should return to normal soon."

_We **hope**_ , came the addition she kept to herself.

"Excuse me!" Another non-agent spoke up: Aunt Arctic, with her notepad in flipper. She looked quite eager, but Jazz couldn't help but wonder how she'd wormed into this crowd. "I've heard you're planning to deactivate the robot. Is that true?"

"I..." Jazz's eyes darted away from her. That was probably classified information, right? Her mind scrambled to recall the appropriate protocol, as she had never dealt with reporters before. "At this moment, I can't say one way or the other."

"But our readers have a right to know what's going on!" she objected.

"I'm sure we'll give the news a full report once this is handled, Ms. Arctic." Some of the agents nodded, calming her nerves. So that _was_ what she was supposed to say. _Thank goodness._

"I'm looking forward to it, then." The lack of disappointment in her voice struck Jazz as a bit odd, but she decided not to dwell on it.

She turned and took a deep breath, stepping towards the store. "Well, looks like now's the perfect time to test out the new gadget... I'm going in."

The jet pack guy grabbed her by the shoulder. Another interruption. "Hold on. We've never had to deal with one of these before. Are you _sure_ you want to go in there alone?"

"I know what you mean, but I don't want to risk startling the robot right away." She pulled away from his grasp. "Besides, I'm pretty quick on my feet."

"Is there anything else we can do to help?" D crossed her arms.

"I just need everyone to be prepared when I open the door in case the robot tries to get away."

"But what about _you?_ "

"Don't worry about me," she insisted, looking at the ground. She was unable to make eye contact with D. Was she flustered, or was that feeling just her nerves? "I'll be fine. I have the Robotomy device, and I'll have the Elite Puffles in with me."

A flipper on her shoulder forced her to look D in the eye, even if only for a moment. "Please don't hesitate to call for help. We don't want to see you in any danger."

"Thanks, D." Jazz brushed a flipper along her own cheek. "Glad you guys are looking out for me."

She smiled, though she still sounded concerned. "Be careful, ace. If there's any trouble, let us know and we'll get you out of there."

"Got it."  
  


Once she'd called a few of the Elite Puffles and someone had removed the barricade from the door, she slipped in with the little creatures in tow. _Now, **where** could that robot b-_

_Clang!_

**_Clang!_ **

**_CLANG!_ **

**"Retrieval at: 50%"** the Wheel-Bot uttered as it rammed itself against the vault door. Coins were strewn about the floor, but the rest of the shop seemed untouched, with clothes still neatly on display. Heck, it barely looked like any customers had come into the store today. No, it was only her and the Wheel-Bot. Jazz couldn't help but stare at the strange scene. **"Redirecting hydraulic output from: Leg Motor to: Back Motor... SUCCESS."**

It was trying to nab the Gift Shop vault. She had no idea what it could need that for, but it didn't matter. She couldn't let it succeed. Jazz took a determined step forward. The robot's head jerked in her direction.

**" Intruder Warning! Threat level assessment: Low. Continue retrieval."** Wheel-Bot continued to slam against the door. Perhaps she should have been glad it _didn't_ consider her a threat, but rage gripped her.

"STOP THAT!" Jazz screamed. "You're supposed to be _HELPING_ Club Penguin, not _DESTROYING_ it!"

**"Processing answer... ERROR: Conflicts with Prime Directive."**

She put her flippers to her face and groaned loudly. Of _course_ this wasn't going to be that easy.

"Bouncer!" she shouted. She pointed at the robot's head, hoping G's illustration was accurate. The puffle readied a snowball, and...

**"Proximity breach. Evasive Action 3..."**

_Splat!_

**" FAIL."** The Wheel-Bot backed away from the vault door, letting it slam shut. It flailed its arms away, trying to wipe the snow away from its face. **" WARNING! Unexpected optical breach. Optical Sensor strength at: 50%"**

Jazz grinned with satisfaction. It might have been fast, but it wasn't fast enough to dodge Bouncer's snowballs.

**"Threat level assessment increased to: Medium. Remitting Primary Objective. Proceeding to Secondary Objective Retrieval."**

"Secondary objective?" she echoed. She didn't like the sound of that... _or_ the sound of Wheel-Bot crashing through the door to the office upstairs. Jazz scrambled upstairs after it. She only caught a glimpse of it before it crashed through the door to the roof. She squirmed through the broken door, as it was still locked. Past it, she found the Wheel-Bot, rolling back and forth. It held a computer over its head, which was most likely stolen from the office. First the vault, and now this...

**" Intruder Warning! Threat assessment level: Medium."**

"You're surrounded, Wheel-Bot. Give it up!"

**"Secondary Objective: Secured. Calculating escape route."** Those were not the words of a robot that was about to give up. In fact, it sounded like it was _ignoring_ her, despite staring dead at her. But if it was planning an escape, she didn't have much time to act.

"Bouncer! Again!"

_Splat!_

**" WARNING! Unexpected Optical Sensor Breach. Optical Sensor strength at: 0%. Emergency Brake: Engaged. Commencing extraction and disposal."** It dropped the computer with a loud _CRASH!_ The owner was _not_ going to be happy about that.

"Good job, lil guy." Jazz looked down at Bouncer, who seemed very pleased with herself. Wheel-Bot flailed its arms around, trying to clear off the snow again, to no avail. The snow looked to be pretty deep in the robot's circuits.

"... Hey, Flare." She crouched down and pointed to Wheel-Bot's base with a smirk. He hopped over to the robot and Jazz covered her eyes.

**" WARNING! Critical Temperature Change."** Those monotonous words were all she needed to hear. Her smirk grew into a grin as she uncovered her eyes. **"Structural Connectors: Compromised. Hydraulic Junctions... Welded."**

There was another, louder, **_CRASH!_** as the Wheel-Bot fell backwards onto the ground.

" _Nice_!" Jazz cheered and went over to ruffle his fur. She opened up the hatch on Wheel-Bot's chest.

**"Broadcasting Rescue Signal... Broadcasting Rescue Signal... Broadcasting Rescue Signal..."** The robot droned. Her eyes widened. _That_ couldn't be good. She fumbled for the Robotomy device, plugging it into what she hoped was the right slot.

She _wished_ the Wheel-Bot hadn't kept repeating itself until the gadget eventually shut it down, _forcing_ it to stop, but it had. Now she could only hope the other two wouldn't do the same, because that had felt way too murdery for her liking. She unplugged the device and stepped back.

"Pop?" Jazz pointed down at the dead robot. _**Could** a robot be dead?_ she wondered. It certainly felt dead to her.

A bubble soon surrounded Wheel-Bot, making it hover slightly off the ground. It was light as a feather in the bubble, and bounced against her flippers like a day-old balloon. The task of bringing it back downstairs in this state distracted her from the distress she'd felt about deactivating it.  
  


Jazz was met with cheers as she stepped back into the Town Center. She froze up. She hadn't anticipated this much noise.

"J! You did it! That was _amazing!_ " D ran up to her and pulled her into a hug. Jazz's mind went completely blank. The embrace didn't last much longer than a second, but that was enough for her thoughts to be reduced to naught but flustered screeches. She was pretty sure a few others in the crowd said something about her work, but she couldn't quite process their words.

"Thanks, I was um... just doing my duty. To help others." Jazz eventually stammered out. "Y... You guys saw the whole thing?"

"Only the part on the roof." D replied calmly, as though she hadn't just turned her fellow agent's brain into a gay mush. "For a second there, I thought the robot would get away."

"It almost did," she admitted. "Thanks for backing me up, guys."

"So, what are we going to do with _this_ thing?" D crossed her arms, cocking her head towards the bubbled bot.

"G asked me to take it back to the Gadget Room. Sorry, I-... I can't stay." Jazz began to quickly walk away, eyes fixed on the ground, before she remembered. "Oh yeah, and the robot messed up the Gift Shop pretty bad. Sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it. The others and I will take care of it." She smiled, at least long enough for Jazz to notice when she tore her eyes from the snow. "Just do what you need to do. You were a hero in there."

"Thanks, D." The attention was nice, but she really just wanted to get out of there. Even so, she had to make sure she got everything taken care of. Mostly because she wasn't sure she could handle being around D again today. "Did you tell the Director...?"

"I was going to, but then they sent out a message thanking us for our help with deactivating the robot." D shrugged. "News travels fast, I guess."

"Yeah, I guess." Jazz turned, ready to high-tail it out of the Town. "I'll be in the Gadget Room if- um. If you need me."

She received a few more thanks and congratulations from the crowd as she left, to which she tried to murmur out the proper responses. She was almost out, when another voice called for her.

"Excuse me, dear!" It was Aunt Arctic. "That was excellent work. Do you think you have time for an interview?"

Jazz glanced from the Wheel-Bot, to Aunt Arctic, and back again. "Nnnot right now, sorry. But you can tell your readers there's _one_ less thing to worry about, Ms. Arctic."

" _Aunt_ Arctic is fine, Jasmin." She readied her pencil. "Now, where did those Test Bots come from, exactly?"

"I'm afraid that's still classified," she tried her best to sound confident in that fact. Jazz was pretty sure Aunt Arctic and Gary were friends, so if _she_ didn't know... "More information will be available as soon as possible. Now I have to go, sorry."

Aunt Arctic nodded. "Of course, of course. Feel free to drop by if you have the time."

Once she was out of the Town and out of sight, she warped back to HQ. She was in no mood to wrangle this robot into the Sport Shop, _especially_ not with the scene that would probably cause.  
  


"Welcome back, Jasmin!" G greeted. "I'm glad to see the bubble idea worked."

She forced out a laugh as she walked over to him. "Me too. Where should I put the Wheel-Bot?"

"Pass it to me. I have a special place reserved for it."

"One robot in a bubble coming up." Jazz bounced it over, letting him catch it. He carefully took it to the back of the room.

"Wheel-Bot is the first robot I ever built," he reminisced, putting it down (to the best of his ability, at least). He ran a flipper along the skin of the bubble. "But my, _my_ , is it ever in rough shape... And I'm not referring to the snow and welding. Could you hand me something sharp?"

Jazz cocked an eyebrow and grabbed a screwdriver from his work desk. "What's wrong with it?"

Gary took it from her flipper and stabbed it into the bubble. With a _pop_ , the Wheel-Bot clattered onto the ground, back where it belonged. He opened up its chest cavity to examine it further.

"There are several backup components missing... It's almost like it's been stripped for parts."

"... Do you think it's related to the blueprints we found earlier?" Jazz tilted her head.

"Perhaps." He closed its chest back up. "I _did_ design the Test Robots to be adaptable, so it is possible that they could be trying to improve something about themselves."

Jazz couldn't help but shudder at the thought. "In that case, I'm glad we got this one when we did. They're already hard enough to catch without any upgrades..."

"Indeed," G sighed as he made the final adjustments to its position. "Now that this one is back to its original spot, we should start looking for the other two."

"Where should we start, then?"

"Unless you have any leads, I'm afraid we'll just have to wait." G adjusted his glasses. The look on his face suggested he wasn't any more fond of the idea than she was.

"It's not much, but the Wheel-Bot let out a rescue signal while I was shutting it down. Does that help any?"

He shook his head. "I have no doubt that signal was shut down with the robot. If it was still being broadcasted, I might have been able to track where _to_ , but..." He frowned. "I believe all that does for us now is shorten the wait."

Jazz gulped. "So we're just biding our time until the next attack?"

"Unfortunately, yes. There isn't much else we can do. Be ready, but you are off duty for now."

"Yes, sir."  
  


Jazz wandered out of the Sport Shop and took a deep breath of fresh air. She wasn't usually free so early in the day. It was kind of nice... Even if she knew it might not last long. Maybe she'd go get some hot chocolate, or- wait, Aunt Arctic had offered to _interview_ her! She smiled to herself as she walked. Yeah, she'd take her up on that! An opportunity like that to be in the _Club Penguin Times_ simply couldn't be passed up... even if she'd probably have to stay anonymous. The PSA usually didn't let their agents' names get published alongside their on-duty actions, but Jazz didn't really care. Those who should know it was her would know- including herself! She had been to Aunt Arctic's igloo once to help find her missing puffles, and she was pretty sure she still remembered the way there, so she began her walk.

Something suddenly zipped past her, knocking her off her feet.

" _Hey!_ " Jazz shouted over her shoulder. "Watch where you're goi-!" Her words caught in her throat as she realized the passerby, even as far away as they were now, was _clearly_ not a penguin. She cursed under her breath and turned to run after it. _So much for free time._

She followed the snowboard trail back to the Ski Village. A group of panicked alpine athletes were gathered around the base of the Ski Hill, concernedly chattering amongst themselves. Jazz took their distraction as her chance to report this.

"G, I think I've located the Snow-Bot," she panted into her Spy Phone.

"What?"

"It's on the Ski Hill, I'm pretty sure. It definitely went up it, but I can't tell if it's still there. Send backup, we _can't_ let it get away."

"I'm on it. Did anyone see it?"

"Probably. There's a bunch of sledders down here... I'm gonna ask around just in case. J, over and out."

Jazz blew her whistle to call a few Elite Puffles, then cautiously approached the group. "What's going on?"

They answered her with nothing but worried murmurs.

"That's what _I'm_ wondering, man," the penguin nearest to her -a dark blue-feathered snowboarder- replied, "I just wanted to shred some snow, but then everyone started freaking out, and they won't let me go up there."

She nodded. "I guess it's complicated, then..."

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, we should probably leave this to the pros."

Soon enough, a green-feathered penguin in a suit and sunglasses walked past the crowd, putting up yellow tape between the base of the Ski Lift and a nearby tree- effectively blocking off the Ski Hill.

"The Ski Hill is off-limits for now," he announced. "The Ski Lift needs repairing, and it isn't safe for civilians to be here while we work. I ask that you all leave."

The crowd gave a collective groan, most of them waddling off to find other ways to entertain themselves.

"What?!" the dark blue snowboarder fumed. "No _way_! We were supposed to face off against Red Team today!"

"You're going to have to reschedule, then."

He huffed at that.

"Hey, um... what's your name?" Jazz nervously asked.

"You can call me Blazer X. Why?"

"This might sound weird, but... I'm a repairpenguin," she lied, "and I think I _might_ need to borrow your snowboard."

Blazer gave her a look, before shifting his gaze to the other agent. "Yo, green dude!" he yelled. "Is she _with_ you?"

He took a quick look at Jazz, before nodding. Blazer X crossed his arms.

"How do I know you're not _both_ with Red Team?" He raised an eyebrow.

"What?!" She threw her flippers over her head. "This is serious! Do you _seriously_ think someone would break the Ski Lift just to sabotage some stupid competition?"

"Hey, don't underestimate the beef between Red and Blue. I wouldn't put it past 'em."

"Sir, _please_ stop arguing with the repairpenguin," commanded another voice- D's. Jazz let out a sigh, grateful to see her and the rest of the backup. "We're about to secure the area, and if she needs your snowboard, she _needs_ it."

"... Alright, _this_ is a bit past Red Team," he admitted, caught off-guard by their presence. Reluctantly, he handed over the board. "Be careful with it. It's sturdy, but I paid good money for that board. I want it back."

"Thanks, Blazer. If I can't return it, I promise you will be compensated." She tucked it under her arm, and hopped over the tape.

"You guys make sure it doesn't escape!" Jazz yelled as she started up the hill. The puffles followed after her. "I'm going to teach this thing a lesson!"  
  


Once she reached the top, she thoroughly understood _why_ there was a Ski Lift. Jazz could not imagine having to run up the hill just to race back down- not more than once, at least. She struggled to catch her breath. Why did agent work have to involve so much _running?_

**"Steel Pipe Objective: Secured. Retrieval at: 15%"** More importantly, though, Jazz could now see the Snow-Bot, tearing apart the Ski Lift's seats. It seemed to have the same sort of plan as the Wheel-Bot. She repressed a yelp as it threw a metal rod over its head and it flung past her, a bit too close for comfort.

Jazz placed the snowboard down and picked up the rod. It was a little rough around the edges, having been ripped from its place, but still felt rather strong. Snow-Bot stood near the edge of the peak, next to the Test Run. There was no reasoning with this thing, either. She knew that, and it didn't look quite as tough as the Wheel-Bot… Jazz took a deep breath to ready herself.

She swung the rod with all her might.

**_CLANG!_ **

**" WARNING! Balance protocol disrupted. Upright mobility function impaired."** could be heard from the Snow-Bot as it tumbled down the slope.

" _THAT'S_ what you're supposed to do!" she shouted triumphantly. Jazz put her flippers on her hips, amusedly watching it clatter down as its statements of distress faded out.

_Wait_ , she thought, _wasn't I supposed to bring that back?_

Her eyes widened. _Shoot_ , she _was_. But now it was falling down the _Test Run_. And it was probably a much better snowboarder than she was. Jazz grabbed Blazer X's board. She _had_ to go after it.

Unfortunately for her, Jazz was not a very good snowboarder. In fact, she'd never snowboarded in her life. The moment she hit an obstacle, she lost her balance, fell off the board, and down she fell after the Snow-Bot.  
  


She groaned, holding at her head. The Test Run was bumpy enough _without_ crashing, but here she was. All sore, at the bottom of the hill. _Again._ The Elite Puffles were circled around her, looking worried. A quick look-over proved both the Robotomy device and the Spy Phone to still be intact. She sighed in relief. The first time she'd fallen down it, she had broken her phone. Breaking it again would suck, but the deactivating gadget would be _much_ worse to break.

**"Broadcasting Rescue Signal... Broadcasting Rescue Signal... Broadcasting Rescue Signal..."**

Jazz's attention snapped to the Snow-Bot. It was stuck head-first in the snow, repeating those same words over and over. It might have been built for speed, but it sure didn't know how to recover from a wipeout.

She opened the compartment on its torso, and plugged in the Robotomy device. In a few seconds, it was shut down. _Success!_ Now she would just pull it out and bubble it... Getting _out_ of the Wilderness with it might be a challenge, though...

The approaching roar of a jet pack soon eased that concern.

"Oh, thank goodness you're here," she laughed, "I could really use your-"

**"Arriving at Emergency Site. Beginning retrieval."**

_That_ wasn't the jet pack guy, and it certainly wasn't here to retrieve _her_. The rescue signal had been successfully broadcast. Jazz frantically unplugged the Robotomy device and grabbed the snowboard as the Jet-Bot approached.

"Go away!" She swung at it, to no avail. The robot didn't so much as flinch as the snowboard bonked harmlessly against its sturdy body. Instead, it pulled its deactivated brethren out of the snow.

**"Emergency Retrieval... SUCCESS! Engine Speed at: 25%"**

She screamed. "Come back here with that robot!"

The Jet-Bot, of course, did not listen, and flew away. Jazz let out a frustrated yell. Great. She was stuck out here _and_ had no robot to show for it.

She took out her Spy Phone and extended its antenna. Hopefully, since it wasn't broken, it could reach the others... She called the first agent she could recognize.

"J, I understand you just went down the _Test Run_ , but I'm busy going after the Jet-"

" _Great!_ " she cut in. "I'm trying to go after Jet-Bot too! It stole the robot I just deactivated."

"You're _kidding_..." the jet pack guy grumbled. "I'll come pick you up. We _need_ to get these things under control. Over and out."

Being in the open air was so freeing- especially when she wasn't the one who had to control their movement. No, the jet pack guy had _meant_ it when he said he'd pick her up. Jazz clutched Blazer's snowboard and the puffles (minus Flit, who was happy to fly alongside them) in her arms, while he held _her_ in his. Not a bad deal, honestly.

"There it is!" Of course, they were still following the robot.

"It's headed to the Tallest Mountain..." He nodded. "Hold on tight."

She squeezed Chirp and Pop closer to her as they roared forward and up to the peak of the mountain.

Scrap covered the mountaintop- from inner tubes, to an anvil, and even a few coffee bags, which were tied up with helium balloons.

"Looks like we found their stash," the jet pack guy mused. He put Jazz down. She took a quick look around.

" _One_ of them," she corrected. "The big stuff is still missing... They've gotta have other places." Neither the telescope, the speakers, nor the ticket booth were here, and she was certain the robots had collected quite a bit more than just this.

"And here's our runaway's little _friend_." He stood over the deactivated Snow-Bot. "You weren't done with it, right?"

"Oh, yeah! Pop!" -the puffle hopped out of her arms, allowing her to point- "Do your thing!"

They blew a bubble around the robot, seeming proud of their work.

"Good job! Now we just need to fly back wi-"

_Pop!_

**"Soap sphere breach... SUCCESS!"**

Jazz let out another frustrated cry as the Jet-Bot retreated back into the air- thankfully without the other robot.

**"Standby to protect Test Robot Unit 2, codename: Snow-Bot. Maintain safe distance and speed."** It began circling the peak, keeping its face towards them. There was a moment of silence as they concocted plans to stop it.

The jet pack guy spoke up first. "I'll go after that thing so _you_ can deac-"

"Don't."

A flash of anger crossed his features. "Excuse me?"

"I said _don't_." Her voice was confident, but she couldn't stand to look him in the face. "You couldn't catch it last time. We _can't_ let it run off again... so to speak."

"What's your plan, then?"

Jazz took a steadying breath. "Hopefully, you'll see..." She paused, watching the Jet-Bot a _little_ longer. "Flit?"

She pointed into the air, and he zipped forward. She could only hope she timed this right.

_Thud!_

The Jet-Bot's flight stuttered. The bag of coffee beans, now freed from the balloon, slipped off its head as it thrust forward, back towards the peak.

**"Radar systems: Rebooting. Flying ability reduced to: Hover."**

Jazz looked down at the yellow puffle in her arms and gulped, before looking back over to the jet pack guy.

"Hey," she whispered, as not to alert the robot, "you might not want to be around for this part."

He nodded, and flew off. She took a step towards it, placing Chirp down onto the snow. Jazz pointed at Jet-Bot and covered her ears.

_Tweedle-eeet!_

**" WARNING! Sound dampener failure."** Its engine fizzled, and it finally dropped to the ground, sparking.

"I guess you're not a big fan of puffle music..." she laughed to herself. She wasn't either, really, but at least _she_ didn't literally break down at the sound of it. Jazz waved for the jet pack guy to return.

**" ERROR: Jet engine and navigation systems offline. Broadcasting Activation Sequence..."**

"Activation sequence?" She had expected no rescue signal, given that this was the last Test Robot, but not _this_. She had no idea what it was referring to, but it made her worried. Whatever it was, she couldn't let it happen. She tugged its chest compartment open, and plugged in the Robotomy device.  
  


"That's the last of them, huh?" The jet pack guy landed down next to her, just as Pop bubbled the Snow-Bot.

"Yep. Now we just need to bring them back to G." Jazz tapped her beak in thought. "This might take a few trips, though. And we can't just leave this junk up here..."

"That can be managed. Without the Test Robots wreaking havoc, we'll have plenty of time to clean up. Now come on, let's get _you_ back down."

In the end, the last of the Test Robots were returned to G. They looked a little worn and tampered with, but he didn't mind, as long as everything could finally return to normal.

And so it seemed to.


	8. Epilogue

** EPILOGUE **

* * *

_"Hey, great work with the bots, ace! The Director wanted me to tell you to come to the Stage later for something special. Hope to see you there! D, over and out."_

Jazz had been playing the voice message over and over again, but the butterflies in her stomach refused to fade. If anything, they were getting more aggressive. It sounded at least _somewhat_ work-related, but here she was anyways: pacing around her igloo. She had to calm down- being _this_ nervous around D was not an option.

She picked up Blitz and held him close to her chest. He could probably still smell the Elite Puffles on her, but he nuzzled up against her anyways. Jazz had always found his natural heat so nice and relaxing... She steadied her breath.

"Okay, okay," she mumbled, "it's _just_ work. I handled three dangerous robots just fine." She held out her puffle. "I can handle _one_ cute girl, right Blitz?"

Blitz simply blinked at her, retaining his deadpan expression.

"Yeah. _Yeah!_ I can do this." She put him down, bouncing on her heels. "And if I _can't_ , then... Um... Let's try not to think about that."

She gave the puffle a final scritch before she left for the Stage.  
  


Somehow, the makeshift ticket booth looked worse after a day. It already wasn't fine work, but even though it was in the exact same condition, it bugged her. _Such sloppy work..._ Jazz winced. She wished she had the time to fix it now, but no such luck. She just had to walk into the building. No big deal. She could do this.

It was dark in there. Pitch black, in fact. Jazz couldn't repress the groan that came at that realization. Did they just need her to reset the fuses here? _That_ wasn't worth getting worked out abou-

"SURPRISE!" came a collective shout as the lights flicked on. There was a sudden movement in front of her face, and Jazz yelped.

"Wh-" She looked around. The theatre was filled with her fellow agents, most of whom were wearing party hats. "What's going on here?"

The rookie, who was near the front of the group, laughed. It was strange seeing him without his signature propeller cap. "It's a _surprise party_ , J!"

"We figured that taking down the Test Robots was worth celebrating, and we wanted to reward you for a job well done!" D clarified. Only now did Jazz realize _she_ had been the movement- D was still standing in the box she had popped out of. Now she felt silly about being so startled.

"I... I don't know what to say! Thanks, guys." She gave a smile. It was true: She didn't know what to say, because the only thing on her mind was the fact she _didn't like parties_. Not ones like _this_ , at least. They were too loud, too crowded- suffocating and overwhelming. The fact there were only thirty or so penguins present (the PSA, despite its reputation, was not particularly large) didn't change a thing.

"It's the least we could do, mate!" PH insisted. Unlike the rest, she had swapped out her puffle whistle for a sparkly lei, presumably because she had refused to give up her hat.

"Roger that," the jet pack guy nodded. "This party is ready to lift off."

The group cheered. Jazz felt herself tense at the sound. This was going to be a long... however long this party was supposed to last. They began to mingle amongst themselves, letting her properly enter.

Goodness, she did _not_ want to be here.

But that was too bad for her. It would be rude to leave now, especially since this was _for her_... _Hoo boy._ She scanned the room, trying to calculate what the best plan of action would be, when she noticed something.

"Hey, D?" her voice was probably a little more worried than it should've been, but the chatter was already starting to get to her.

D was in the middle of climbing out of her box, but looked up to face her anyways. "What is it?"

"Do you know where Gary is?"

"Oh, you know how he is." She rolled her eyes, letting out a chuckle. "We invited him, but he was too busy with his inventions to come."

Jazz nodded. "Ahh." That checked out. "That's too bad. I'd love to have seen him."

"I'm sure the feeling is mutual, ace." With a little _hup!_ , D was out of the box. "Speaking of, I'd like to say it's been great working with you."

"Thanks, but.." Something about her tone bothered Jazz. "What's this about?"

"Nothing, it's just" -D sighed- "I don't think we'll be working together again for... _a while_. I thought I'd tell you while we're together."

"Why not?"

She smiled. Not the usual smile, no, this one was pitying, and said _oh honey_ in that way one would to a young child who simply _couldn't_ understand. It made Jazz feel insignificant- like the rookie she was.

"I told you, I don't usually work with PSA agents." D averted her gaze. It was a strange change of pace. "I don't know if something in that's going to change or not, but chances are we won't work with each other again."

Jazz took a step towards her, nervous. "Can you at least tell me why you don't work with us?"

D laughed, harsh and forced. It sounded more directed at herself than anything. "It's probably been a bit since you've heard this one, but that's classified. Let's just say I'm from a bigger pond."

_Great._ So D was out of her league in more ways than one. Maybe she'd be better off putting that concept aside...

"Hey wait, don't take it so hard!" D had clearly picked up on her sense of despair, and was not a fan. "Sticking with the metaphor, I know there are a few pond-jumpers here. Like -what did you call him- _Jet Pack Guy?_ "

Jazz's ears seemed to prick up.

"Yeah, he and I were hired around the same time, and we're pretty much equals. He just sticks around here because he prefers working around people." D's smile had returned to more genuine, albeit now-mischievous, territories. "He'd _hate_ to know I told you that. Messes with the 'tough guy' thing."

Jazz snickered. "Well, I guess that's our secret then."

" _Exactly_." She winked. "Now, don't worry about me. You go and enjoy yourself! It's a party!"

"Okay, okay." Jazz was ready to turn and walk further into the theater, but stopped herself. She _had_ to say it. "Oh, and, uh... D?"

"Hm?"

She faltered, the words caught in her throat. No. She couldn't. "Thanks for everything."  
  


Jazz hurried off to the snack table. Goodness, had she _really_ been planning to confess? _Here? **Now**?_ Knowing _exactly_ how unprofessional it would be? _Eugh._ She just _had_ to drown that regret in punch. She took a swig from one of the plastic cups.

The _PSA_ could have gotten better, she figured, but whatever. It was passable punch. She could totally just hover over here, trying not to get overwhelmed by the sounds of her coworkers. There was even cake over here! This was fine. Absolutely.

"Hey, J!" Oh, right. This party was about _her_ success. Ignoring everyone wasn't plausible.

She halfheartedly waved to the rookie. "Hi. You... _do_ know you can just call me Jazz, right?"

"Oh, cool!" He beamed. "I love jazz music."

Jazz cocked an eyebrow. That was an odd thing to say, _sure_ , but it's not like it was the first time she'd gotten such a comment. "Speaking of, it feels _really_ weird to call you a rookie when you're barely newer than I am. Like, your first mission was my _third_. What _is_ your name?"

He laughed as he grabbed a slice of cake. "It's _way_ too silly to say... Rookie is fine! Besides, if anyone's qualified to call me a rookie, it's probably you."

Jazz scoffed.

"I'm _serious!_ " He shoveled a bite of cake into his mouth. "I don't know anyone else who could've stopped those robot things!"

" _D?_ The _jet pack guy_?" she offered, "Probably a lot of the people in this room, actually..."

"Okay, maybe you have a point there," he backpedaled, "but you still did it! That's pretty awesome!"

"Thanks." Jazz chuckled. Maybe this wouldn't be _that_ ba-

_**CRASH!**_

The noise made the ground shake with its sheer force, distant as it was. It caused several agents to topple into each other, and even those who had kept their balance were clearly rattled.

"What was _THAT?!_ " Rookie broke their fearful silence.

"Whatever it was, it was _**big**_ ," the jet pack guy answered as he pushed himself up from the ground.

"Stay calm, everyone!" D raised her voice, putting her flippers up to attract more attention. "We _will_ get to the bottom of this."

A sudden series of _beeps!_ broke them from the moment.

"Shoot, I'm getting a call… Everyone, quiet down!" Jazz pulled out her Spy Phone, putting it on speakerphone. The room went dead silent.

**"Agent J, this is the Director. I'm calling an island-wide emergency."** said the distorted voice from the other end. Her blood went cold.


	9. An Agent's Work is Never Done

** AN AGENT'S WORK IS NEVER DONE **

* * *

"We heard a loud crash," Jazz stammered. "What happened?"

**"All of the surveillance monitors in HQ have gone offline and, what's worse, the Elite Puffles are missing."**

"They're _gone_?!" PH shrieked. The other agents started murmuring amongst each other as she paced around in a panic.

"That's... bad," Jazz tried not to let her fear be audible. She was certain she was failing. "First off, we need G to help get the monitors back online, _pronto_."

**"That brings us to our next dilemma, agents. G seems to have gone missing again."**

The group erupted into cries of disbelief.

"This really _is_ an emergency..." she muttered.

**"The island is on high alert. I will be teleporting you all to HQ immediately."**

"Yes, Director. Over and out." She hung up. "Everyone, be ready!"

In a moment, everyone was huddled in HQ.

"I'm going to look for the Elite Puffles," PH announced. "I could really use some help, but finding G's our priority."

"Someone should stay here and see if the I.S.E.E.U. can be fixed, but yes. We need as many eyes out for G as possible," D added. "J and I will look for clues here."

At that, most of them left to search.

"Rookie" -two of the four penguins still present looked over at the jet pack guy, who simply groaned- " _Green_ rookie. You've been stationed at the I.S.E.E.U. before, right?"

He nodded, looking confused by the question.

"Good. C'mon, you can help out."

Rookie seemed to light up at the idea and rushed over. "Do you know what to do to get them working again?" he asked.

The jet pack guy sighed. "I have the feeling that we'd need a Gadget Guy, Gary specifically, to fix this, but we can get the problem under control."

D nudged Jazz's side. "We should probably _look_ for that Gadget Guy, then."

"Right!" She jumped a little. She'd honestly been distracted by everything else. "Good luck guys."

D turned around, taking Jazz with her over to the Gadget Room. To both of their surprise, the door opened automatically, immediately revealing the mess that had been made of the room. D rushed in, dragging Jazz, who was practically frozen by the shock, behind her.

The back wall of the room was _destroyed_ \- a massive hole broken through it. The debris of the wall was scattered about, both inside and outside, snow had been tracked into the room, and many gadgets -including the deactivated Test Robots- were knocked over in the commotion that must have happened.

"This is _unbelievable_!" D muttered.

Jazz hesitantly stepped towards the opening and put a flipper against the remains of the wall. "... Is it just me, or does this look like the hole Wheel-Bot made in the Night Club?"

"J, that-" she spluttered, "that doesn't make any sense. Just look at the size of it! And G _insisted_ he only built 3 Test Robots."

Jazz gulped, scanning the snowy tracks on the ground. The more she thought about it, the more they looked to her like they were made by minecart wheels. "G and I had this _hypothesis_ , let's call it, and I'm starting to worry we were right." She looked up at D. "These tracks have to lead to some answers. We _have_ to go after it."

"Ready to roll, as usual, huh?" D smiled lopsidedly, in a way that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Let's go, then."

"Wait! If that thing was on wheels, we'll probably need a set of our own to catch up with it." A bit of digging through her items, and Jazz produced a set of keys. "And I know _just_ where to find some."

Jazz hopped out of the Snow Trekker and D stumbled out after her.

"Okay, new rule" -she held at her head, trying to steady herself- "you are never driving that thing again. Not with _me_ in it..."

"Whoops." Jazz smiled nervously and tossed the keys over to her. "Hey, uh... why don't you stay in the Snow Trekker? Just in case we need to chase this thing further?"

Despite her clearly shaken state, D snatched them out of the air. "Good call," she murmured. "You go investigate, you little speed demon."  
  


Jazz could remember this place. Not too far from there was where she had found G trapped under a minecart. What she couldn't remember, though, was the opening of the cave being so... _robot-shaped_. She poked into the debris-filled cavern, continuing to follow the tracks. Suddenly, a realization hit her, and she felt a twinge in the pit of her stomach. This must have been a _hideout_ \- a hideout for a...

She stumbled backward at the sight. Her heart pounded like a drum, her breathing grew rapid. It couldn't be, yet there it was, towering before her: A giant robot, cobbled together from stolen parts, a Frankensteinish mechanical monstrosity. And it had G inside of its _head_. He was panicking, desperate for a way out. His terrified gaze soon met hers.

"Jasmin!" Gary shrieked, banging on the glass bubble that he was held in. " _HELP ME!_ The Test Robots- they've gone too far!"

Running on pure adrenaline, her eyes darted for something to arm herself with. Her heartbeat was deafening.

"HEY! _YOU!_ " she hollered, grabbing a rock from the ground. "WHATEVER YOU ARE! GIVE G _BACK!_ "

She threw the stone. It _tink_ ed harmlessly against the boiler on its back. Was her mind playing tricks on her, or could she now hear _whimpering_? There was no time for her to listen closer, though, as the robot's head spun around to face her. Two cold yellow lights stared her down.

**"Identity query... Processing answer..."** The robot's voice boomed. It was just as monotonous as the Test Robots', but far less polished. The speakers that made up its shoulder made the ground rumble. Jazz started backing up. **"Ultimate Proto-Bot 10,000: Next generation Test Robot. Initializing Superior Intelligence Component..."**

The rest of the Proto-Bot's body turned around. She could now see a little over a dozen eyes shining at her in the dim light. Seven puffles, the _source_ of the whimpering noises, were trapped behind the Ticket Booth's window. She had no doubt they were the Elites.

**"Commencing Upgrade Scavenger Hunt Sequence."** The minecart wheels _creak_ ed as it rolled forward. She ran as fast as her feet could carry her, breath short.

"D," she screamed, "START THE SNOW TREKKER!"

The vehicle roared to life as Jazz scrambled into the passenger seat. "DRIVE! DRIVE!"

"Woah, woah! J, what _happened_ in-"

_**CRASH!**_ The Ultimate Proto-Bot smashed through the cave wall, speeding out of the Wilderness. There was a split second of silence before the Snow Trekker started after it.

"Call the others," D ordered. Her voice shook, despite the authority in her words. "Then maybe you can fill us in on what in the _WORLD_ that thing is?!"

With unsteady flippers, Jazz grabbed her Spy Phone.

"Hello? Agent?! We've got a BIG problem."

" _How_ big?" It was odd to hear the jet pack guy so worried. "J, what Code are we at?"

" _Code_?" She looked over at D for an answer, who merely gave a shrug of _how am **I** supposed to know?!_, keeping her widened eyes dead ahead. "I don't know, Code _A Giant Robot Has G And It's Heading For Town?!_ "

"A _WHAT?_ "

"The Test Robots built _a giant robot_ out of the parts they stole, it took G and the Elite Puffles, and now I think it's trying to steal even _more_ things to upgrade itself with." Jazz hated the uncertainty in her own words. "We're following it now, but we _need_ help."

"... I'll call for backup. Make sure everyone remains safe. Over and out."  
  


The Snow Trekker screeched to a halt around the Snow Forts, and the two ran out into Town. Other agents were already there, standing a healthy distance away from the giant robot, but ready to act.

**"Searching for: Turn Table upgrade..."** uttered the Proto-Bot as it loomed over the Night Club. It smashed an arm into the upper half of the building. Screaming could be heard, and a group of penguins spilled out of the building. A number of agents were quick to help get them a safe distance away from the scene.

**"Searching for: Turn Table upgrade..."** It pulled out a spotlight, looking confused. **"** **ERROR: Turn Table Positioned beyond reach. Continue retrieval attempt."** The Ultimate Proto-Bot tossed it backwards, snapping the wires it had barely clung to, and put its arm back in the hole.

"So what's the plan now?"

"I... don't know," Jazz admitted. Saying it in front of D made it feel worse than it normally would. "Whatever we do, we have to make sure we don't put anyone in any more danger- especially not G or the puffles..."

She took a few steps forward, and cupped her flippers around her mouth. "HEY, GARY! Do you think you can turn it off from the inside?"

"I don't have the proper tools!" He yelled back, though the sound was muffled. "And I can't reach down into its chest anyways!"

"What am I supposed to do, then?!"

"You'll just have to improvise! If it's any help, there are a number of sensors just below me that may prove quite vulnerable! Perhaps if you get closer to its face you could interfere with them!"

"Interfere with...?" A lightbulb went off in her head. "D! We need to get up to its face!"

"Sure, you're the boss..." D gave her a look, before calling to the others. "Everyone! Keep anyone from getting too close to the Ultimate Proto-Bot!"

Jazz ran into the Gift Shop and D followed.

"We need access to the roof," she told the frazzled-looking owner.

"A-are you sure?" he stammered. "I almost fell off the roof when I saw tha-that _monster!_ I thought it was going to get me..."

"I'm sure." Jazz nodded. "But you're probably safer down here, anyways..."

"Yes, I... I think you're right. Please be careful!"

The doors still being broken from when Wheel-Bot crashed through them made asking for keys unnecessary. The two ran up the stairs to the roof.

"J! D! Over here!" Gary called, banging his fists against his glass prison.

Jazz put a flipper over her mouth. "Shh! I don't want it to notice us..."

**"Robotic arm insufficient. Continue retrieval attempt."** The Ultimate Proto-Bot repositioned itself. They all froze, silent, as its head momentarily rose above the Gift Shop roof. It promptly went back down to reach into the Night Club.

"So, the sensors...?" D prompted.

"Right. You have your Spy Gadget, don't you?" -D nodded at Jazz's question, pulling it from her pocket- "This might sound crazy, but... I want you to dust its beak."

"... Well, I don't exactly have a better plan." The duster attachment clicked out of her Spy Gadget. With a tap, it extended and tickled Proto-Bot's beak. The robot twitched a bit, and stood up straight. With a loud electronic crackling, it shot backwards, and onto its back wheels.

**"WARNING! Tilt Sensor Overload."** Its arms flailed in an attempt to rebalance itself. The window of the ticket booth shuddered open just long enough for one puffle to escape. **"Puffle Containment Chamber: Compromised."**

D leaned over the side of the roof to get a better look. "Blast!" she cried, and ran back downstairs... Leaving Jazz alone in Proto-Bot's gaze.

It was a nonsensical thought, but she could swear she felt something in those eyes. Hatred? _Shock_? She couldn't tell what exactly, but whatever it was, it was too much for a faulty AI to communicate through repurposed headlights. The Ultimate Proto-Bot turned away and rolled off towards the Dock.

Jazz ran back downstairs and out of the Gift Shop. "Is everyone okay?!"

"I think so. They were just scared by that thing." D looked around for confirmation. A helmeted red puffle sat next to her. "Blast here is a little shaken, but he's ready as ever to do what daredevils do best."

"What a daring little guy..." Jazz crouched down to him. "Don't worry, Blast. We'll get our friends back."

"We sure will. Now come on! We can't let it get away!"  
  


The Proto-Bot smashed its claws down, again and again. Every time it did, there was a loud crash as it struck the Hydro Hopper. **"Processing upgrade. Preparing plan. Cataloging Boat Components. Preparing plan."**

It must have been planning to use _that_ for parts, too.

"G! Are you okay? I don't know how much longer the Dock can carry all that weight!" Jazz yelled.

"Don't worry about the _Dock_! It's the Ultimate Proto-Bot that's having trouble keeping its balance!" Gary seemed a little too happy about the latter statement for either of them to be comfortable with it.

This time, D responded. "Aren't you worried you'll all fall in the water?!"

"Actually, no! It seems that both mine _and_ the puffles' chambers are waterproof!"

"Well, good to hear!" Jazz looked over at Blast, and pointed at the Proto-Bot. "Go get 'em!"

_Bang!_

**"WARNING! Collision detected. WARNING! Ground space limited. WARNING! Tilt sensor overload. WARNING! Puffle Containment Chamber: Compromised."** The hit had opened the hatch just long enough to free Loop. She hopped out onto the Dock, just as her colossal captor fell off with an equally-sized _SPLASH!_

"Everyone, hold on tight! We're going down!" cried Gary.

**"Internal System leak. Activating: Flying Escape Mechanism."** There was a loud hiss from the boiler. The Ultimate Proto-Bot grabbed onto the Dock, pulling its upper half out of the water. An engine somewhere inside of it sputtered, and the Proto-Bot launched into the air. 

Jazz groaned, ready to follow it. " _Wow_ , that thing really likes to run away..."

Thankfully, there wasn't much running for the two penguins, as it landed back onto its wheels in the Ski Village.

**"WARNING! Internal System is waterlogged. Upgrade search: Halted. Activating: Spin Dry."** The Proto-Bot began spinning like a tornado from its minecart base up. Water was flung from its body in all directions. Most importantly though, Gary was screaming his head off from inside. 

Jazz and D stood watching, an unspoken sense of _wow, I'm glad that's not me_ between them.

"HOLD ON, G!" Rookie burst out of the Sport Shop, holding a rubber duck over his head. "I have a secret gadget right here!" 

Gary seemed too busy screaming to acknowledge him.

D gave him a baffled look. "Rookie, what _is_ that?"

"I'm not really sure. I found it in the Gadget Room." He squeezed the ducky a few times, and was met only with squeaking. D put her flippers on her hips. He shrunk back a little. "It was in one of the lockers, so I figured it had _some_ secret agent use..."

"Loop?" Jazz looked down at her. "Do you think you can make that thing stop?"

The pink puffle took a good look at the Proto-Bot and readied her lasso. Jazz picked Loop up in the hopes of giving her a better shot at roping the robot.

The rope creaked with strain as it was tightened around the Ultimate Proto-Bot's shoulders. Soon enough, the behemoth came to a halt, though it appeared to have been tipped towards them.

**"WARNING! Spin Cycle blockage. Balance loss imminent. WARNING! Puffle Containment Chamber: Compromised."**

A black furball tumbled out of the hatch, and onto the ground. The rope gave a final groan before snapping, and the robot slammed back into a proper position. Loop squeaked in distress.

**"Excess water and blockage: Removed. Resuming Upgrade search."** The Proto-Bot's head swiveled around, scanning its surroundings. **"Puffle Capture Upgrade: Located. Proceeding to: Beach."**

She put Loop back on the ground, and hurried over to Flare, who looked positively _green_.

"You poor thing... All of that spinning would probably make me sick, too." Jazz cooed, gently stroking his fur. "Keep close. I don't want that thing to catch you again."

"But _we_ still need to catch it." D scooped up Flare, as he wasn't exactly ready to hop after them. "Come on, we can't let it escape!"  
  


The Ultimate Proto-Bot had stuck its arm through one of the Lighthouse's round windows by the time they got there.

**"Puffle Capture Upgrades at: 50%."** It wheeled a bit closer to the building. **"ERROR: Additional Net Upgrades positioned beyond reach. Sorting through immediate obstacles."**

"Are you alright up there?" D yelled as Jazz circled the Proto-Bot. There had to be _something_ she could do...

G jumped a little and looked down. "Oh! Hello again, agents! I'm a little disoriented, but otherwise I'm okay. Thank goodness I had a light breakfast..."

"Glad to hear!" She let out a sigh of relief. "But we still have to get you out of that dome! Do you have any ideas?"

"I agree, but so far it seems the Ultimate Proto-Bot's chest is its only weakness. If I come up with something, I'll be sure to let you know!"

Jazz wondered if maybe the Test Robots were better at making machines than she had given them credit for. The Ultimate Proto-Bot 10,000 wasn't nearly as feeble as they were, even if it was much rougher around the edges... Heck, the only weakness in it she'd _really_ exploited was its poor sense of balance. She paced back and forth. What _could_ she do?

**"Additional Net Upgrades: Secured."** The Proto-Bot reversed, snapping her out of her thoughts. Jazz's eyes darted, and she yelled the first thing that came to mind.  
"FLARE! THE WHEELS!"  
The puffle jumped out of D's arms, a blue flame already on his lips. She shut her eyes tight. She couldn't look, for more than the usual reasons.

**"ERROR: Traction System unresponsive."**

Jazz let out a breath she wasn't aware she was holding and pried her eyes open. The Proto-Bot stared down at its base. Its face didn't allow for much emotion, but it seemed confused, somehow. Its free arm pushed against the Lighthouse, perhaps hoping that would make it move.

**"WARNING! Balance loss in 3, 2..."** Instead, it tilted back on its now-useless wheels. It dropped the nets in its grasp as it tried to regain its balance. **"WARNING! Puffle Containment Chamber: Compromised."**

The chamber barely flapped open, but it was enough. A green puffle zoomed out, and nestled against the first penguin it saw.

"Flit!" Jazz hugged him tight. "I almost thought you wouldn't make it..."

The Ultimate Proto-Bot's speakers crackled in a ghastly way. All attention was immediately snapped to it. **"Ground Mode Status: Disabled. Activating: Flying Escape Mechanism."** The boiler hissed something fierce, and the robot lifted into the air, up to the top of the Lighthouse.

"Looks like we might need some of Flit's aerial expertise," D remarked. "Good thing he got out."

Jazz nodded. "Now we just have three puffles and one G to go." She opened the door to the Lighthouse and _oh dear_.

It was a _disaster_ inside. What _wasn't_ completely broken by Proto-Bot's attempt to retrieve the nets was knocked around the room. And, evidently, one of the cream soda barrels had burst, given the sticky-looking pink substance coating the floor.

Jazz slammed the door back shut. "So _that's_ not an option."

"It's _that_ bad in there, huh?" D raised an eyebrow, and took out her Spy Gadget. "Good thing we have other ways of following it, then." A few taps on the screen later, they were warped to the top.  
  


**"Preparing for Upgrade."**

Jazz looked around. "What is it _talking_ about?!"

"I believe it wants the Beacon's lightbulb for itself," Gary replied matter-of-factly.

"... How strong would you say that dome is?"

The two of them stared at D for a moment before G spoke up. "Given that it was designed to be part of the Aqua Grabber, _quite_ strong! It can withstand about-"

"Then brace for impact! Flit!" D pointed into the air.

Jazz was about to ask her _what the heck she was even **doing**_ , but a _CLANG!_ stopped her. Flit had snapped the string that kept one of the anvils tied to its balloon.

"BULL'S EYE!" D screamed. The Proto-Bot fell. A blue blur leaped from its confinement.

**"Unexpected Collision. Upgrade Data Loss. WARNING! Puffle Containment Chamber: Compromised."** Before it could crash to the ground, the boiler 'caught' it, and it rose back up to the Beacon, staring down at the two. **"Reassessing Location Risk Level... Running Escape Protocol."**

D let out an irritated sigh as the Ultimate Proto-Bot flew off. "Looks like it's not taking any more chances with us."

"And it still has Gary." She stepped forward to Bouncer. "At least you're okay, little guy. That was quite the leap you made..."

D leaned over the railing. "It's still in sight. You should be able to catch up to it without being noticed."

" _I_ should?" Jazz furrowed her brow. "But what about you?"

She gave a resigned smile. "There's only one jet pack up here, ace. We can't both go."

"But-"

"I'll take the Elite Puffles back to PH. Besides, you still have the Robotomy device, don't you?"

Hesitantly, Jazz nodded. She had _hoped_ to give it back to G today, but certain... _events_ had prevented her from doing so.

"I know for a _fact_ you can do this." D put her flippers on Jazz's shoulders, looking her in the eye.

This time, Jazz pulled her into a hug. Tight. One she hoped would say what she couldn't out loud. She didn't want to let go, so close to D like this. The warmth of her body, the subtle scent of perfume, the soft sleekness of her feathers... She could _almost_ ignore the world like this, but she knew she wouldn't be able to. Not in good conscience. Jazz forced herself to break apart from it. She couldn't tell if the embrace was too short or too long, but it didn't feel right either way. She wasn't sure if any length of time would be quite right.

Jazz slipped on the jet pack. The engine was still warm from its last use. She tried her best to ignore how that heat only made her want to be touching D again. Holding her, being held by her... Oh, a kiss was completely out of the question, but it sounded so nice. She scooped up Bouncer, muttering some excuse about how she could probably use the help. Flit, on the other hand, simply wouldn't go with D- he wanted to stick around for the ride.

"Have a safe flight," was the last thing D said before she warped away. Jazz gulped, and started the jet pack. There wasn't any point in sticking around here. She had a job to do.

She didn't like being alone up there. Sure, there was Flit and Bouncer, but that wasn't the same. They were nice, but they didn't provide the sense of reassurance ~~_she_~~ another penguin easily would. And the Proto-Bot, which she was slowly approaching, was nearly the opposite.

She had to take it down.

**"Scanning for upgrades. No Agent activity detected."**

Jazz let out a breath she hadn't consciously held. Somehow, she'd followed the robot to the top of the Tallest Mountain without it noticing. The Ultimate Proto-Bot seemed strangely content to observe the outer sides of the mountain, and didn't look once at the peak itself. Its back was consistently kept to her. It was just her, Bouncer, Flit, and the Proto-Bot's backside- boiler and all.

"Inventor Brain: Noted. Continuing scan."

… At least that gave her time to think.

There was a stream of flame coming from the boiler- the Test Robots had fashioned it into some sort of jet pack, and while jet packs _were_ useful, they were far from infallible. Jazz really could have used Chirp's help, but _she_ was still secured away in the Proto-Bot's chest. She tapped her beak. That wasn't an option. But she had made one malfunction by herself once, hadn't she? Not a jet _pack_ , exactly, but a similar enough construct, she figured: _A rocket-powered surfboard_.  
  


A month or so ago, when it was a bit warmer, Gary had asked her to help test an invention of his. Something about being fascinated with the science of surfing had led him to constructing a surfboard with two small _jet rockets_ strapped to it. And despite her lack of skills in _any_ sport, he had chosen _her_. Heck, when the lifeguard at the Cove dropped her off to test it, she'd wiped out before even being able to _turn it on_. And even once she'd managed to get the hang of it (something you have to do quickly you're going _that_ fast), the rocket had sputtered out.

_The splashing water had put out the rocket fire._

"Hey, Bouncer!" Jazz grinned, pointing at the flames. She may not have had any water, but there was plenty of snow up here. "Think you can hit that?"

Bouncer nudged some of the surrounding snow into a large ball and winked an eye shut. Even if she couldn't, it looked like she was going to try. Carefully, she aimed. And she threw it.

**"ERROR: Boiler Jet System shut down."** The sounds of the engine started cutting out. The Proto-Bot stuttered in the air. Its head turned around to assess the damage. To see _her_. Its face hadn't changed any, but its fury was palpable. It used the last dying bursts of the boiler jet to position itself above her. **"Aerial Mode: Disabled."**

It was falling. This building-sized robot was falling and it was going to fall on her. Her eyes shut tight.

The mountaintop practically shook with the impact.

Jazz had barely thrown herself out of the way in time. She couldn't believe she was still alive, but there she was. Lying in the snow, terrified, and much closer to the robot than she'd like, sure, but unharmed.

**"Agent: Detected. Inventor Brain... Liar."** The Proto-Bot fumed. Its eyes were transfixed on her. 

" _What!_ " Gary seemed almost as scared up there. She couldn't quite hear it, but he looked to be laughing nervously. "Of course not! I wouldn't _lie_ , I simply- _JASMIN!_ MOVE!"

Proto-Bot slammed down one of its claws, right where she had just been. Jazz heaved, trying to catch her breath. She was on her feet now, if only barely. The Proto-Bot was stuck in the snow, its wheels were welded together, its boiler jet was shut down...

**"Structure at: 45%. Running: Emergency Escape Protocol."**

... And it was _still_ trying to escape. Her eyes darted. _What to do what to do what to **do**..._ Wait, was that Chirp?

Jazz had to do a double-take, but yes. That yellow thing in the snow was _definitely_ Chirp. She must have slipped out during the fall, while the both of them were distracted. Jazz couldn't help but let out a laugh. _How **perfe** -_

She yelped. There was a pressure around her torso. Cold. Powerful. Unflinching. She squirmed and thrashed, though her arms were pinned to her sides. The Ultimate Proto-Bot lifted her from the ground, bringing her up to eye level with those cold yellow lights.

**"Remitting Emergency Escape Protocol."**

“Put me down!” Jazz screamed.

"What are you doing?!" Gary slammed against his glass prison. "Proto-Bot, there's nothing to gain from this!"

**"Processing answer... Threat level assessment: High. Eliminate at all costs."** Its claw pivoted, turning her upside down. It raised its arm above its head.

Of all the ways to die, she never would have expected blunt force trauma via _vengeful giant robot_ to be hers. Jazz took a deep breath. Her eyes squeezed shut. There wasn't anything she could do about this. Maybe if she accepted her fate now, it would hurt less.

The cold air ruffled against her feathers. She was going down. **_Fast_**. One, two, _breathe easy._

_Think about the connections you've made._

_Think about D. About how much less scary saying "I love you" sounds now._

_Think about Rookie. About how you might've been friends one day._

_Think about Gary. About how much you looked up to him. About how much of an **honour** it's been to work for him. About the opportunities he's given you. You've made an impact already, stop thinking about the impact you're **gonna** make when you smash into the ground and **he's** the only witness and-_

_Tweeeeedle-eeee-eet!_

The shrill noise forced Jazz's eyes to snap open. The Proto-Bot had frozen in its attempt to smash her into the ground. Suddenly, its grip on her released and she was falling. Goodness, she had never been so happy to be _falling_.

_Crack!_ Landing _head-first_ , on the other hand, she wasn't quite as glad about. An electric blast of pain stabbed its way through her body, but as quickly as it did, it dissipated into an ache. At least she was alive and on solid ground again.

**"Glass Upgrade: Breached. Puffle Containment Chamber: Disabled."**

Jazz pulled her head from the snow and struggled to her feet. The rough landing had left her dizzy, and the spider web of cracks in her vision confirmed the source of the noise: Her glasses had broken. From what she _could_ see, though, they weren't the only things broken. Chirp's song had shattered the dome, and the robot was still reeling. She wished she could say she felt much better than it as it jerked glitchily from side-to-side.

Its arms grabbed at its empty chest. **"Start Up Sequence: Failed. Boiler Pilot Flame: Unresponsive. Reinitiating Sequence..."**

"Gary!" she yelled. A huge relieved smile was on her face, despite her current state. "Do you think you can get out of there?"

"Whoa-!" He struggled to keep his balance as its head rocked. "No, it's moving too much! I can't find a safe way to get down."

Jazz was about to say something when something soft nudged against her foot. She looked down, pushing her glasses up onto her forehead so she wouldn't have to piece together whatever she was seeing in some mental jigsaw puzzle, only to be made more challenging by her uneasy swaying. The blurry blob before her was round and purple.

She crouched down to pet it. "Sorry it took so long to get you out."

Pop gave a squeaky little huff, but begrudgingly leaned into Jazz's flipper. She picked them up. _A safe way to get down, huh?_ And G was smaller and _definitely_ lighter than those robots...

"Flit! Take Pop up to G!" She held them over her head. They squirmed and yipped defiantly as Flit grabbed them by the scruff. "G... Do you have anything sharp?"

"There's quite a bit of broken glass up here." He inquisitively watched Flit as he carried Pop up to him. "Would that be sufficient?"

"As long as you can pick up a piece, that works! Now, Pop!" Jazz did her best to point at Gary. The puffle gave her a weird look, but ultimately obeyed her command.

Once in the bubble, Gary managed to hop out of the Proto-Bot's head, floating slowly to the ground. The robot slumped forward. Its arms went limp and its eyes dimmed.

**"Intelligence: Interrupted. Compiling Retrieval Plan..."** it spoke, somehow more dull and monotonous than before.

Once he'd reached the ground, he stabbed an orange shard of glass through the skin of the bubble, freeing himself. Jazz couldn't help but run over to hug him. She was just so glad to see him safe. Gary tensed, clearly startled, but gave her a quick pat on the back.

" _Ah_ -! Jasmin! I appreciate the enthusiasm, but perhaps this should wait until _after_ the robot is deactivated? I believe its access panel is exposed!"

" _Right_." She pulled away and immediately started rooting through her things. At least landing on her face meant that the Robotomy device didn't get crunched. She wasn't sure if it could have taken another fall, so she just had to be happy it didn't.

With much trepidation, Jazz approached the Ultimate Proto-Bot with the gadget in flipper. If not for the fact it had just tried to _kill_ her, this would have felt much easier. Was it just trying to lure them into a false sense of security? She couldn't put that past it... Jazz stepped over the fragments that were once the ticket booth's window, still uneasy on her feet. Okay, if it was going to get her again, it probably would have done it by now... _Right?_ She gulped.

The Proto-Bot's chest cavity was much more cluttered-looking than those of the Test Robots, now that its access panel was open. While a section of the ticket booth had become the Puffle Containment Chamber, the majority of it had been blocked by another door and was filled to the brim with machinery. Gears spun, LED lights glowed, and there was the faint hum of electricity throughout. It was still running, there was no doubt about that. There were many different ports of all sizes and shapes, given the sheer number of dismantled devices that made up the Ultimate Proto-Bot, but there was only one that looked like the Robotomy device would fit into. Jazz jammed its plug into the slot and held her breath, waiting for the subtle signs of activity to die down.

The signs she _did_ get were anything but subtle. The Proto-Bot shook violently, knocking her onto the ground. She was soon glad it had, though. White-hot bolts of electricity crested above her, jumping from one open slot to the next. And just as suddenly as it had started, it stopped.

"... Is it over?" Jazz whimpered. There was a soft _click_ , and the Robotomy device dropped onto her face. She wasn't sure which gadget was to blame for that.

"I think so." Gary's voice was soft. He came closer, a smile growing on his face. "The Ultimate Proto-Bot is finally deactivated!"

He offered her a flipper, helping pull her back onto her feet and out of the ticket booth. She handed him the Robotomy device, which he slipped into one of his lab coat's inside pockets.

"Promise me you won't make any more robots." Even _she_ didn't know if she was joking or if that was a legitimate plea. "If I ever have to use that thing again, it'll be too soon."

"So much for this week's plans, then..." Gary tutted. Jazz shot him a dirty look. "I'm joking!"

"You'd _better_ be!" She couldn't help but laugh. Playfully, she shoved him. "I'm not shutting down another batch of evil robots for you!"

Her laughter died down soon enough. She looked up at the now-lifeless Proto-Bot. "We... should probably find a way to get down from here. Because I'm guessing _this_ thing" -she gestured to the jet pack still strapped to her back- "is broken."

He walked around behind her to examine it. "I'd say you're right. The damage Chirp did would be easy to fix if I had my tools with me, but no luck there... Do you have your Spy Phone on you?"

"Huh? Yeah," -Jazz pulled it out- "of course I do, why-? _Oh_..." She nodded to herself, feeling a little embarrassed she hadn't put it together sooner.

They each took two Elite Puffles into their arms, and she clicked one of the buttons on the phone. In an instant, they were warped back to HQ.  
  


Jazz put down Chirp and Pop, slumping onto one of the office chairs. " _Now_ we need to fix all the damage Proto-Bot caused..." She pinched her beak and let loose a groan. "At least you're safe and sound."

"Indeed, though I'm not sure you should say 'we' in this context." Gary's comment certainly raised an eyebrow. "You've done so much in this past week, and we can't afford to have you working yourself to the bone. I'm sure the Director themself would agree you _more_ than deserve a break."

She rolled her eyes, chuckling to herself. "For real this time? Because every other time-"

"I intend to keep true to my word. I imagine most of the rebuilding effort won't be handled by our agents, anyways." He put the other two puffles on the ground, and walked towards the Gadget Room. "Though I'm sure I could use their help with the repairs here..."

The doors retracted, and Gary nearly crashed into another penguin.

Rookie jumped back, clearly not having expected anyone to be on the other side. "Woah, G! You're back! Um, good to see you!"

"Likewise. Now, what do you have there?" Gary tilted his head, trying to get a better look at what the rookie agent had just scrambled behind his back.

"I... don't know." He held it out in front of him. Being across the room with her glasses off, Jazz had to squint. It _looked_ like a briefcase, but she couldn't be sure. "I was trying to put back the ducky and some other things I found, but I couldn't figure out where this went."

Gary took it from him to examine it. "Goodness, I was wondering where I'd put this... I suppose the Proto-Bot's rude entry must have knocked it out of whatever cranny I tucked it into."

"What _is_ it, though?" Jazz came closer in the hopes it would help, but she still couldn't figure it out from appearance alone. Its light brown exterior told her it couldn't be the Disguise Kit, which, while similar in form, was plain white. If anything, it just looked like a normal leather briefcase, which was most likely the intent.

"This is my Furensic Analyzer 3000! It analyzes and identifies any fur samples you feed into it..." Gary's words slowed, his thoughts clearly taking priority. One could practically hear the gears spinning in his head as he trailed off.

"Oh, that's coo-!"

" _Gadzooks_!" His cry cut Rookie off. "Jasmin! Those white fibers you found before the Test Robots went haywire! If I can get this working again, we can identify them!"

" _What?_ "

"Yes, yes," -Gary started pacing around the room, leaving the other two to watch, bewildered- "the theft of my Electromagnet 3000's blueprints, the subsequent construction thereof, and the Ski Lift's _belt_ going missing... While it all wouldn't be out of line for our robotic 'friends', the timeline of events says they _couldn't_ have been the culprits! And considering the evidence found at the scenes... Do you know what that means?"

Jazz and Rookie shared a look. "No," he answered.

Gary clutched the briefcase close to his chest, grinning ear-to-ear. "Agents, we have a _mystery_ on our hands. Isn't that exciting!"

She rubbed at her head, the dull throbbing pain firing up at her touch. She let out an involuntary hiss. "You know G, I think I'll be a _little_ more excited once we've got everything else handled. There's still a lot of work to do..."

"Oh, of course." He walked back up to her. "Would you mind if I took a look at your glasses?"

Gary did not wait for an answer, plucking them from the top of her head so he could inspect them. "Hmm. These shouldn't be too hard to fix. Give me a day or so, and they should be good as new."

"Thanks, G," she sighed.

"And thinking of that," he added, "are you feeling alright, Agent? You _did_ take quite the fall..."

Jazz felt herself shrink back a bit. "... I- well... Not really."

Gary's brows furrowed with concern. "You should probably have that examined, then... Penguins aren't designed to take that kind of blow to the head, and I of all people should know that."

"Yes, sir." She bowed her head sheepishly, but a faint laugh escaped her, despite the embarrassment. _I guess you would, huh?_

" _Please_ take care of yourself while you're on break." There was an authoritative sort of affection in his voice, almost parental in nature. "There will be plenty for you to do here once you're back on duty, I'm sure, and you'll have to be ready for that."

She nodded and turned around to leave. She shrugged off the broken jet pack, and hung it off the back of one of the chairs. G could fix it once he got the chance, whenever that would be.

"Now, Rookie," Gary continued, "would you mind alerting the others of my return? I have some work to do…"

Jazz stepped out of HQ and into the change room, taking a deep breath. She had nearly just _died_. And here she was, casually dismissed to get herself to a doctor. Jazz leaned against the wall, holding at her throbbing head. This was not at _all_ what she had expected when she'd joined the PSA, but then again, she supposed, she hadn't had _any_ idea what to expect back then. Who _would_ , upon their boss leaving a puzzle for them to solve, only to be greeted with an offer of joining a _top secret organization_ upon completion? She shook her head with a sigh and stumbled her way out of the empty shop.

For better or for worse, the only thing anyone _could_ expect from this job was the unexpected. 

"Blitzy, I'm ho-ome," Jazz sang, exhausted as she returned to her igloo. She had already been worn out from the earlier chaos of the day, but her evaluation had taken longer than expected to come to a conclusion- one she probably could have seen coming: A _concussion_. She had forced herself to not laugh at the diagnosis, if only to avoid needing to explain that she'd gotten it while trying to save a friend who had _also_ been concussed earlier that week. She was pretty sure that information would be considered classified, anyways.

Even with her currently-limited sight, it was clear her puffle was snoring away on the couch, a splotch of black against the orange upholstery. Now Jazz couldn't help but chuckle to herself. All that mayhem, and Blitz was none the wiser, just waiting for her return like it had been a normal day.

"Hey." She squinted at him, mocking sternness. "You _know_ you aren't supposed to be up there without me watching, mister. The couch isn't flameproof like your bed is" She started making her way into her home. "You're lucky nothing happened while I was out-"

_Crunch!_

Jazz flinched, reflexively undoing the step she had just taken. Beneath where her foot had been was a yellow slip of paper, obvious against the entryway rug. It must've been slipped under the door while she was out. She scrambled to pick it up. Had someone from the PSA left her this while she was getting checked over? That wasn't unprecedented, and they _did_ know her address… But she had to know for certain.

**X |: **

**Sorry the surprise party didn't go so well. We'll have to make sure we ACTUALLY take care of everything before celebrating next time… But then again, giant robots are hard to plan around. (-‿•)**

**Hope I can see you again sometime soon!**

**- ‾|**

She could swear her heart skipped a beat as she read the note over. No, this wasn't from work, not exactly, but this was so much better. A smile, lightly bittersweet, spread its way upon her beak as she properly stepped into her home. She really hoped so too.

Jazz slipped the note under her book, which still sat on the table. That struck her as a good place to put it, so she wouldn't lose it, lose the proof that D _liked_ her, even if it was just in a friendly way. She scooped up Blitz from the couch. His temperature flared up, clearly startled by the sudden touch, but he soon relaxed, comforted by her presence. She collapsed onto the couch and closed her eyes. If rest was what she needed to recover, rest is what she would get. And with that note at arm's reach, its contents still fresh in her mind, she was sure it would be peaceful.

**END**


End file.
